The Shiekah's Tale
by Faeyrinne
Summary: We all know what happened to Link, but what befell Shiek while Link was saving Hyrule? Warnings: Language, Abuse, noncon, yaoi, violence, dark, gore, some HC. Ganon x Sheik, Link x Sheik. Subnote: Shiek is not Zelda in this story.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** Since someone told me this ought to be skipped up a beat, here goes. I don't own anything related in manner, form or substance to Nintendo or The Legend of Zelda (inc). I am in no way affiliated with the company, either. Suing me won't make you a rich nor happy person 'cause I'm just borrowing the characters temporarily for my own twisted writings.

**WARNINGS:** Every nasty thing in the book, kiddos. If you're under age thirteen, turn back now. Your poor little mind might be scarred for all eternity by this story. Contains rape (referred to as non-con more politely), torture, m/m, yaoi, H/C (I think. Still don't have all these wacky little terms sorted out) and language, not to mention much, much more. This is not a happy story, though it might have a happy ending. Read and find out, won't you?

* * *

If there was anything the creatures of what had been Market Square knew, it was not to mess with the Shiekah. _Ever._

There was only one figure in Market Square who walked with that kind of confidence, and they recognized it easily and stayed the fuck away. The figure strolled through at a leisurely pace, as if waiting for something to happen. Around him zombies moaned and sat curled upon empty buildings, but they never cast him a glance. Ever so often the white-garbed head would raise, a few locks of blonde hair and one eye seen through a part in the fabric. His body was adorned in a blue formfitting outfit, hands shoved into pockets as he took a seat on the steps of the Temple of Time. Or at least it had been.

Crumbling stone upon stone. Nothing but memories. It had once been beautiful, sacred.

But then Ganondorf came, and everything that ever had a purpose was gone now. Hell, half the Hylians were dead or imprisoned. Everyone knew why; the Dark King was looking for someone. And he wanted that someone alive.

_Funny, _Sheik thought to himself, _About the way things turned out. _

There was a sudden second set of footsteps, so soft one might not hear them if they were not of the elite class, the Shiekah. Nobody ever heard a true Sheikah coming. They were indiscernible from the background.

Shiek turned his head and met the newcomer with his hand curled, ready to attack if they should be an enemy, but seeing that it was one he knew, relaxed his grasp. "Impa," he said flatly. The woman showed herself; stark-white hair and piercing eyes, imposing and taller than him by far. She'd always been imposing.

_I hate you, _Sheik thought, but now was not the time to get lost in memories.

"Ah, I see you're getting on well enough. What's it been, Shiek? Three years? Four?" she smirked, though there was no humor to it.

"Depends if you count that one glimpse of you at Hylia."

"I don't."

"Then yes, three years." He curled his back against a stone eye, closing his eyes and re-tying his hand wraps, which were coming loose already. Impa gave him a hard stare, as if trying to measure whether he was being cocky or not. And then quite suddenly she was done, looking up at the spires of the Temple. "Enough about that," she said in that smooth voice. "It's time. This is what you've trained for for nearly a decade."

The other Shiekah nodded. "I know," he said, trying to contain the unease in his voice. What if the Hero of Time didn't awaken? What if they were all doomed to die? It was sure to happen. He hadn't been old enough to really care much when everyone had been raging about this hero; only eleven at the time. He almost missed the times he spent as Royal Spy. Reminiscing, however, would get him nowhere.

"Better get in there. It's nearly time," she said, and then disappeared. Such was the way of their kind, after all. Short and to the point – don't drone on and you'll keep your neck.

He sighed inaudibly, stood, turned towards the entryway.

Shiek silently made his way into the building, past the broken door and up to the altar that held the now-useless Spiritual stones. Once those stones would have been the most coveted items in the land, and now they floated there, meaningless. The other room, the back chamber, was the one he wanted.

Light fell even though it was night, illuminating the empty pedestal in the center of the chamber. That, supposedly, was where the Hero had taken the Master Sword seven years ago. Nothing there now; only dust and echoes. He took a seat on the lowest step.

There was a voice from somewhere: a woman's voice, singing. He did not flinch, because he hardly ever flinched. But he turned his head slowly to the center of the room to see the source. There was a tiny spark of blue light floating above the empty pedestal. His heart gave a mighty lurch: Not fiction, not fiction at all! Or was it only his mind playing tricks on him? But no. The voice was joined by another, and then another, becoming a swirling cacophony of noise that filled the chamber.

And suddenly the room was filled with blue light. Sheik narrowed his eyes, stretched an arm out and braced his face from whatever might be coming—

It was done. And in the center was a boy.

No, not a boy at all… a young man about his age.

"The Hero of Time," Shiek breathed aloud. The Kokiri (or at least, that was the assumption; whom else wore green?) merely looked back at him, as if he were slightly confused. His face was haunted. He looked like someone caught at a bad deed, and as if he were more than sorry for it. His expressions were unguarded, completely free as they changed his face.

And then, in a slow voice, he spoke.

"Where… am… I?"

"Temple of Time," Shiek replied, trying to regain his cold tone, though inside he was full of emotion. Questions that hadn't been asked, but which he was dying to. "It's been seven years, Hero. Welcome back."

The Kokiri looked around, dazed, and then spoke again. "My Gods! Seven years?"

Sheik nodded. Impa had told warned him that the Hero would have been sleeping for seven years, and would not know what had been going on. All this time, asleep! He couldn't get his head around it. How could anyone look upon this destruction, this chaos, and not think that there had been no time when Hyrule was not torn?

"And who… are… you?" Link asked then, trying to keep his face under control.

"Shiek," he replied. "I'm here to guide you."


	2. Chapter 2

_The Forest Temple. Link had been here tons of times, just by himself, and once with Saria. But as he climbed up to the entryway, Sheik, he saw, was there, standing on a stone platform that Link had not noticed before. He looked relaxed, calm, relatively refreshed. How had he beaten him here? How did he always know where to come before Link did?_

"_What's that?" the Kokiri asked, pointing at the object he had in his hands._

"_A harp," Sheik replied. _

"_You play?"_

"_Yes," he said curtly. "Get your ocarina out. I've got something to show you."_

"_You knew… about the Ocarina of Time?" Link asked, surprised. He had thought Zelda wouldn't have shared that with anyone but a member of the Royal family… and Impa… who was this young man? Why did he know such things?_

"_I've spent half my life training to assist you, Link," Sheik said liquidly, stretching. "I know plenty of things about you. Don't look so surprised."_

"_Such as?"_

_Silence._

"_Follow along with me," Sheik said, not answering his question, and instead playing out the tune. Link picked out the notes after a few tries, and looked at his own ocarina in bewilderment as it glowed a greenish color, lights swirling and enveloping his gloved hands. Gloves – when had he gotten those? Who had given them to him? Rauru, perhaps, when his body had been in stasis, but he sure didn't remember putting them on…_

_He had never liked wearing gloves. They were a bit awkward. Once when he was younger, Saria had given him a pair for his birthday, as a gift. She'd been so proud of them. He'd worn them just to make her happy, but he'd never actually liked…_

…_never actually liked them…_

_He cleared his throat shakily. "What's happened to my friends, if you know so much?"_

_He looked upset. Shiek folded his arms, calm as ever on the surface, though on the inside he sympathized. Just a little bit. Link would have quite a bit to learn about Hyrule's state of affairs at the moment, and how different it was from seven years ago. But now was not the time. He replied in a cold, clear voice, devoid of thought._

"_I cannot say. The Dark Lord has gotten to them, most likely."_

_Link opened his mouth to say something, then stopped. His eyes had become watery. He bit his tongue to keep himself from saying something stupid. "What does that mean?" he finally asked._

"_You must be ready to face the possibility that they are dead," Sheik replied._

"_I can't," Link said, defeated. "They can't be dead… Zelda…Saria… Malon… Ruto? Even Darunia?" he said each name slowly, as if it were an evocation, and as if he were thinking out loud._

_When he looked up, Sheik was gone. _

_Link put the palm of one hand to his eye and wiped his feelings away. He would not cry. There was a job to be done. Even if they all were dead, he had to be stronger than anyone. He had screwed this up, he had let Ganon into the Chamber of Time and now he would suffer anything for penance. If he could only make things right, he would do anything._

_No time for tears._

I must be ready to give my life for him. I must be ready for anything,_ thought Sheik, as he made his way out of the forest. _

_And to do that, he had to keep himself away. There was no place for sympathy_

* * *

"So," Sheik said to the red-haired girl. "You've no idea where Impa is?"

"No," Anju, the cuckoo-girl, said with a frown. "Last I saw 'er, she was goin' into the graveyard, an' she's been missin' since then, misser' Sheik."

Sheik pushed his nose down with one hand, a quick gesture, and then looked over to the graveyard entrance. "And she said she was going to pacify the demon there, is that it?"

"Aye," the girl returned solemnly. "She said it was bound t'kill us all if she didn't. Since th'Dark King's been about, all kinds o' things been happenin' in this town. Kakariko en't safe, not anymore. Time's been we thought it was, but even here…" she paused. "Guess ye can never be too sure o' where ye stand. Things have a funny way o' workin' out differently." Both of them glanced up to Death Mountain subconsciously, where a cloud of fiery haze stood. It hadn't always been a volcano. Not before He took the throne, killed off all the Royal family, left Impa to run away with the princess.

"I.. see," Sheik said, trying not to let his disappointment show. He needed to talk to Impa, badly. And now he wouldn't get the chance. "I'll just leave you to…"

He walked around the corner and looked up towards the windmill, blades turning idly in the calm noon wind, his breath catching. Kakariko was peaceful, quiet, serene. The sky was azure and cobalt, a perfect sunny afternoon, and he was miserable.

"I can't do this," he whispered to himself. "Impa, where the _hell_ are you?"

He began to walk without knowing where he was going. Maybe Darunia would know; the king of the Gorons seemed well enough informed. Or at the least he might have a contact the Sheikah could use. Besides, he had to get to the Fire Temple. Link would be there soon, and he would need the Bolero of Fire to gain entry.

* * *

The walk – or run, if you didn't want to die – up Death Mountain was a fifty percent chance of incineration. Today, though, something new was wrong. As Sheik entered the cave that led to the Goron city, he was met with stark silence. Not a thing lived in that cavern; everything was gone.

He hopped down a few levels to the bottom. "Hello?" he called out tentatively, but received no reply. _Right, as if that would help, _he said to himself angrily. _The bastards love to hide anyways._

The door was all wrong to Darunia's chamber. It had been torn apart by something, broken into rubble and thrown aside. Sheik followed the path well into another tunnel behind the room's back wall. When had that been there?

He'd have to figure out where all the gorons had gone later. _So this is why the mountain's been acting up, _he told himself in a quiet voice. _Impa said that something was rising. But surely not Volvagia? Not so soon? _Nobody had heard of the dragon itself for years and years. If Volvagia had come back to life then there would be hell to pay.

Right now he had to concentrate.

It suddenly became hot. Far too hot. He began to swelter in the heat, but his Sheikah clothing was impervious to fire and so he did not burn as he found out he was inside a volcano. _Goddesses above, _he thought silently. The back of Darunia's chamber lead straight into the volcano called Death Mountain.

"You again," Link said as he walked up to the pedestal where Sheik was staring off. Surprised, the Sheikah looked over, then looked away quickly, cheeks flaming. And not from the volcano's heat, either.

"Yes," he replied. "Now get out your ocarina. I've got something to show you."

The Kokiri laughed; "Must be easy getting round if you know all the teleportation songs," he said almost enviously. "And here I've been walking everywhere."

"Not particularly," Sheik replied. "I am not of Royal descent. I cannot use the songs." He strummed out a few notes, and the boy copied obligingly, eventually getting the hang of the Bolero of Fire. It was Sheik's favorite, and with good reason… it was strong, but haunting.

"Then why'd you learn them?" Link asked, obviously surprised as he stepped forward.

"To teach you."

There was a silent moment.

"Sheik. Who are you? I…" Link put out a hand as if to grab for the Sheikah's shoulder, and the blonde let him. "I feel like I can trust you. So tell me. What's going on – outside, I mean? Why does everyone know who I am?"

A single red eye scrutinized the boy before him. "Because the Dark Lord is after you, Link. And if he finds you…" he paused. "He takes prisoners, sometimes. I don't know what he does to them. But he has made you famous; notorious, even. People are afraid of you, because you may cause Hyrule's death or salvation. The choice is yours."

The Sheikah slowly removed Link's hands from his shoulders and stepped back a couple paces. "Don't trust anyone," he said. "That's all the advice I can offer."

"I trust you, Sheik."

Sheik felt like he might be sick if he stayed there any longer. He disappeared in a flash, leaving a rather shocked Link staying behind, and was gone – out of the mountain faster than the eye could see. He was going to throw up, he could feel it.

But when he finally made the last leap from the craggy spires of the volcano and down to the plateau, he realized. It wasn't nausea. It was the beginnings of something else.

It was love. He didn't know why. But that's what it was.


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: Same as before. I don't own anything related to Zelda or Nintendo or its creators or affiliates. And if you think I do, then you are a sad little person.

Flames are appreciated. Call it masochistic if you will. ;)

And to all you who've read it: Wow! I didn't think anyone'd actually read it. Much less review it. But thanks a ton, I do appreciate it, and sorry for the lack of updates. Computer crash and all that. I'll do more soon and hope to have the rest of it up by the end of the next coupla weeks if all goes well. Thanks:3

* * *

Sheik turned to face the sunlight, shielding his eyes irritatedly. Fantastic. He'd have no way in by cover of sunlight, but it couldn't be helped, after all. He needed to speak with Nabooru and he needed to do it now. Hopefully Link was nearly finished with the fire temple, but he had work to do: Ruto had had to be saved, for one.

She'd protested. "Eugh, you're a Shiekah! I want my Link-darling to come save me!" and she'd pouted. In the end, however, it came down to the fact that Sheik had more muscle mass and just plain wanted her to get the hell out of there more. Zoras or not, she was in danger being so close to such a large amount of ice. Well, he'd left her at Lake Hylia, hopefully safe under the fishing man's care for the time being. He was an honest sort of fellow.

His horse was tired. He patted her withers comfortingly and then urged her on, up the slope. "Come on, Renna. Just a little longer."

Well, at least Ganondorf hadn't been here yet. Or at least, it didn't look like it: The Gerudo camp was the exact same as it had always been. There were rumors around Hyrule that Ganondorf himself was a Gerudo; if that was true, then maybe he'd left this place alone. Destroy the world, save your home, that sort of thing. If the dark king was even into diplomacy, and that could hardly be expected seeing as how he'd refused to negotiate with any of the other monarchs in Hyrule.

Sheik thought back to the night seven years ago when he'd been standing in the royal throne room. The king had been alive then, and sitting on the throne, just as fat and stupid and oblivious as ever. But what could one do but advise? And that's what he'd done.

* * *

"Your majesty," he'd said, kneeling. "I bring terrible news. There is an evil uprising in the east, near the desert. Please, listen to me. The dark forces know that something is about to happen, and they're going to come for you if you don't move your armies now."

"Nonsense, nonsense, my boy! If there was any sort of thing going on, my royal spies would have told me!"

Sheik coughed. "Sir. I am a royal spy."

"Yes, but you're also Impa's student, and we all know how capricious she is." He traded a knowing look with the dark skinned man on his left. "Isn't that right, Ganondorf?"

Sheik had turned his red eyes up to the Gerudo king. "…The boy is clearly lying," Ganon drawled. "Assuming facts, jumping to conclusions. Looking for a promotion, just like the rest of them." He'd sneered at the guards standing along either wall. Sheik had risen onto one knee, gritting his teeth. _Damn you, Ganon. Damn you and your lies._

"Father," princess Zelda had said from the other side. "What if he speaks the truth? I had a dream last night…"

The king gave a long winded sigh. "Zelda! No one believes your silly little dreams. They're the nuances of being a girl. Kindly shut up and let me rule, dear."

Sheik looked over to the girl, wanted to comfort her. She sat silent on her small gilded chair, her face turned towards her lap, hands clenching her skirt. But she wouldn't cry. Not in front of the entire court, and not in front of that demon. The Sheikah and princess exchanged looks, then looked towards Ganondorf simultaneously.

Ganondorf sneered. "Your majesty. If you wish, I shall accompany this…" he spat. "Runt, out of the castle. He is, after all, no more than that. How old are you, runt?"

"…Eleven," Sheik had responded, his eyes dark and glittering. He did not enjoy being made a mockery of.

"Yes, thank you, Ganondorf." The king smiled peaceably and sat back on his throne. The Gerudo walked forward and lifted Sheik up as if he were nothing more than a piece of paper, and then guided him towards the front entryway by one shoulder. Sheik stiffened; the fingers on his shoulder were moving as if they belonged to the hand of a friend, even a father, or a lover. It was a disconcerting feeling.

"You won't get away with this," he'd said as soon as they reached the palace entry. He didn't care who heard, though none were around, but apparently Ganondorf did. He struck Sheik across the face, hard. The boy flew back a few feet and hit a wall, sinking down:

"But I will. You see, now that the Hero of Time has been so kind as to open the Door for me, I possess the power to make any wish. And that's exactly what I've done. Hyrule will fall into a state of decay over the next seven years. They will try to fight, and try to resist me, but eventually I'll have everything I desire. Even that girl, Zelda. Even the Hero of Time will be mine to do with what I will.

Sheik fumed and got to his feet. "That's not true! The Hero will destroy you before you even get a chance to do that! And don't you DARE TOUCH ZELDA!" he roared, swinging wildly at the man. He didn't even care when Ganondorf grabbed him up by the scruff of his shirt and swung him out the gate, then signaled for it to be closed behind him. Sheik, however, did. He had risen to his feet and ran back to the wooden gate of the city, pounding violently against it with gloved hands. "LET ME IN! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO KILL THEM! GUARDS, GUARDS! SOMEBODY!" he'd yelled, banged, screamed. But none had come, and none would dare disobey the king's orders.

He was an outcast of the city now.

* * *

Sheik looked up as they reached a tent, then stopped and dismounted, tying Renna to a fence. "Heyo," he called. "Anyone home?"

A short, haggard-faced man appeared. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"Passage into the Gerudo temple."

The man gave a short, barking laugh. "It's the Gerudo's Hideout now, man. Don't you know that?"

Sheik nodded. "I haven't been in some time, but… tell me. Is Nabooru still the head?"

"As much as she ever was, man. But you'd best not go there. They're not kind to anyone they meet who isn't Gerudo."

Sheik gave a smirk and pulled the hood of his cloak up over his face. "Then they won't meet me," he said, and began to sprint towards the opening of the valley, where the city sprawled out beneath, a twinkling gem in the midday Hyrulian sun.

Guards everywhere. Why all the guards? What was there to be guarding? Sheik swung down from a rock pile into the fray of people, and was instantly halted by a Gerudo woman with a spear. "Who the hell are you?" she asked, her voice thick. "Pale-skin. Get the hell out of the valley and we won't hafta torture you, ya?"

Sheik shook his head. "I'm here to speak with Nabooru. It's a matter of political importance."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "Izzit now? Such an important man. Who the hell are you, anyways?" She reached up a hand and snatched off the hood of his cloak, revealing his face, still garbed in the customary white and blue of the Sheikah and hidden from view. But now the red eye talisman on his personage was apparent to all around. People stopped and stared, and the woman herself snatched him by one shoulder, then called out: "Stop! It's him!"

Instantly guards poured in from everywhere. "Wait!" Sheik protested. "I'm a friend of the country! Impa's student—" there was nothing more to say. They'd kill him. He retracted dual knives from his hips and began flaying them about, striking down guards wherever they grabbed him. He moved back through the throng of people, leapt up and over three, onto a ledge of a building. "Damn you, get away! Don't make me kill you—I'm looking for Nabooru!"

Apparently they didn't care. One woman snapped out a crossbow, two others a chain and flail. Well, wasn't this a happy little party? Sheik dodged the first round of bolts, leaping down and striking her across the face with his knife. She went down easily.

Now where were the other two?

In one second his ankle was caught by a chain. He went down, hard, and hit the ground with a muffled thud. A third guardswoman came running with the flail, and he sent a dagger through her arm before she had time to use it. He lunged out, knocking people off him as he did so, and leapt to a crouched position, ready to fight.

Two more attacked. He deposed each of them, though less easily now. He was losing his power quickly. He'd have to resort to magic if this kept up.

"If you resist, you will be killed!" someone yelled, and he turned to see five more guards, each aiming a crossbow at his chest. "Damn," he muttered, but didn't say anything more. He could avoid one, maybe two fleets of arrows, but not five. "Say and do nothing," one warned. "Drop your weapons."

"Wait," he said, dropping his weapons and putting up his hands. "I'm coming in the name of the kingdom of Hyr—" he didn't get any further. One of the women unleashed an array of arrows into his chest and abdomen.

What the fuck? He was trying to make peace here.

"I said not to speak," she said. "That was very foolish of you." And then he faded, and there was nothing but darkness to swallow him up. Endless, endless darkness with no beginning and no end and no way to get his bearings. .It was as if he was walking through a hallway, but every step was nearly impossible to make.

When he awoke, the first thing he did was remain completely and entirely still. The first rule of capture: never alert your captor you are awake.

Apparently whoever was there knew anyways. "Ah, so you're alive," the voice said.

Well, there was no use now. He opened both eyes tentatively to find he was strapped down by both ankles and wrists, his head against—what was this? Some kind of wood, and there was wood under him, too. He was on some kind of interrogation table. A row of devices lined the walls, and on the other side was a black wall with no windows or doors visible.

"They healed you. I wanted you to be kicking and screaming for this next bit. It's no fun if there's no fight involved."

Right, there was someone in the room, wasn't there? That voice sounded disgustingly familiar. It wrenched his stomach. But he couldn't see the face that belonged to the body. Until… until…

The figure stepped into the light, hands clasped leisurely behind their back.

Ganondorf.

He smiled at the Sheikah.

"Welcome back, Sheik," he whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: Wow. I even need to put one up here? Come on, kids. You oughta know this by now. ;) I in no way am affiliated with anything to do with Zelda or its affiliates. Now stop yer whinin' and enjoy the story.

A lot of people seem to be emailing me saying they liked the story. O0 Uh. Thanks? I guess that's all I can say. And I do appreciate it. It's nice to write normal things and stories for class, but is somewhere I can kinda let loose. ;)

As to beta reading… Yes, I will. But you've gotta keep reminding me, because I'm stupid and forget like that. So go ahead and keep bothering me with emails.

And as to the questions? No, Sheik is not Zelda. I already clarified that. Furthermore, I have taken (ahem) artistic liberties on some parts. But I wanted to know why the characters did the things they did. And this is what came out.

And yes, there was a period of about a week or so between the second and third chapters. Durr.

* * *

Sheik had never been a religious guy. But now? Yeah, he'd be willing to give it a try.

"Din, please… goddesses," he cursed, straining at the bonds that held him.

"Your gods won't hear you now," Gandondorf said, a satisfied smirk on his face. Sheik curled his hand in and then flicked his two fingers together, trying to get his gloveblade to pop up. But it wouldn't. He half-expected Ganon not to notice. He did.

"I took the liberty of removing your weapons myself," he said. "Now, tell me. Where've you been the last seven years? Giving me no end of trouble. I heard you disposed of an entire company of my guards in Hyrule Field, and shot down a few of my messengers along Hylia." He took Sheik's chin in one hand, a belittling gesture. "That wasn't very nice," he said.

"Fuck you," Sheik spat.

"So there's venom left still!" Ganon exclaimed with a laugh. "Glad to see it. Makes it more interesting." Sheik took this brief interlude to look over his own body. The top part of his blue outfit was gone, the bottom wasn't. Well, at least there was that small dignity. There were four brown spots on his chest, looking as if they lanced outward: those were where the arrows had hit. They'd been healed magically, but the scars remained, added to multiple lash marks, scrapes, dagger slits and other assorted wounds. Sheik wasn't the cleanest guy around. And dirty work tended to yield dirty results. He got stabbed a lot, too, but those left less of a mark on the outside and more on the inside.

"…I wanted to see you face to face after all these years. How've you been? Still massacring the populace by the hundreds?" Sheik said, a hint of malice in his tone. He'd been tortured before, he'd been interrogated before. He could take it. He knew how this sort of thing worked: make them angry enough and they'd beat you until you went unconscious. That was the best thing to hope for; then perhaps you could wake before they returned and set yourself free.

Sheik hoped so.

It didn't have the right effect, though. The dark king seemed proud, even happy to reply. "As a matter of fact, I have. There are quite a few torture chambers in the castle—I had them installed after I took out that idiot of a king. Of course, when I heard you of all people would be arriving, I had my own personal one cleaned out."

"Cleaned out?" He didn't want to hear the answer. But his tongue spoke before his mind could work.

"The last victim made something of a mess," came the reply. Sheik tried the bonds with no expectancies, and received no award. The leather was firm and tight and was already cutting into his skin. It hurt.

"There's something I must admit I've always been curious about," the king said, turning back towards the Sheikah again. "What's underneath your mask?"

_No, no, no! _Sheik struggled with renewed strength. He had to get free, he had to, he had to, he had to! No-one had ever before seen what was underneath the mask, not even Impa…

The hand neared slowly. As if he was enjoying this mental struggle. Well, he would. He was a sadist, a madman. As it got too close the boy turned his head the opposite way, his last line of defense. Nevertheless two hands came around and encircled his head. In a moment the white cloth was down around his chin. Why had that been left on, anyways, and not his shirt? Oh, right. The wounds.

There was a small noise. Approval? Disdain? A laugh? He couldn't be sure.

"Prettier than I'd expected," the king replied. "Almost a woman's face." There was a rustle of more movement and he came back with a sort of curved dagger, the blade glinting evilly in the dim light. "But not a woman's body."

"Din, Farore, Nayru… help me," Sheik said huskily. He knew Ganon, and knew he'd take no chances. He'd leave him dead most likely.

The blade pressed just below his collarbone. "First things first," the king said. "Where's the Hero? What's his name? Link?" he sneered. "After my little shadow incarnation failed to get rid of him I was a bit angry, I'll say. But then he disappeared. No doubt you had a hand in that?"

Actually, Sheik had gone around previously cloaking the temples to make them impenetrable by Ganon. Or at least, unscryable. He was strong in offensive magics, but where defense and illusion were concerned Sheik was the superior. All he could think about right now, though, was Link. Was he still in the Fire Temple? Had he rescued the gorons yet? If the bastard had gotten himself killed, then all this was useless.

Rather than make a snarky comeback, Sheik was silent.

The blade came down. It carved a stroke up, twisted painfully, then down, then across again. Sheik yelled the entire time. It hurt like hell.

By the end of it he was trying desperately to curl into a ball. What could he do? What could he do to avoid the pain… but he couldn't betray Link. He couldn't. Link was his friend.

"I'll ask again," Ganon said. "Where's Link? It'll only get harder, you know."

"No," Sheik moved his mouth to say, but found he couldn't. The implication was apparent, though. His voice was just too far gone, raw from yelling.

Again the dagger came down. Another three strokes joined the first in a different spot, this time towards the top of his chest. Slowly, slowly they made themselves visible, and weren't quite deep enough to delve below the skin, but enough so that he was bleeding from them heavily. Sheik was sobbing, begging—his head was on fire, his torso was on fire. His entire body was going into horrid convulsions. If he didn't say something soon he'd die, of that much he was certain.

"Please don't," Sheik said, his voice barely a whisper. "I can't."

"Can't what?" The king said, bending over him. "Can't, or won't?"

"…won't," He whispered. He wouldn't be cowed by the dark king. Not like so many others, not like so many helpless ones who had gone to their graves, their spirits nothing more than a silent whisper delving into the earth to become nothing. Formed from nothing, turning to nothing. Like the darkness in this room, death would be complete and absolute. He even welcomed it to rid himself of the pain.

"You want to die," Ganondorf said. A statement, not a question. "You know that I will do things to you that no mortal has ever suffered, and that when I am done I will kill you."

There was a barely realizable nod from the Sheikah.

"Your kind are all the same," he said with a smirk, and without mercy carved the last three strokes. Through a pain-dullened mind Sheik suddenly knew what was carved onto his chest, though it was bleeding heavily: A triforce. A triforce of blood. What the hell was Ganon doing?

"This will be the future," he said. "I will bathe Hyrule in the blood of the innocents. You won't be the first, nor the last. You could tell me what you know and I'll heal you, let you live. Maybe I'll keep you as my… personal… assistant." Here the _personal _had a twist that Sheik didn't like. "You and I are old enemies, boy. Let there be no more blood between us."

"No," Sheik said for the forth time.

Slowly the king seemed to accept this. He moved to the side of the room and pulled a lever: in a second the flat table had lowered. It was, Sheik noticed, much larger than he was. Almost like an enormous dining room table. The Gerudo leaned over him, and—Sheik thought—was going to slit his throat, for sure.

Instead he was kissed. By Din and all the goddesses, Ganon trapped his mouth in a harsh, suffocating kiss. He couldn't breathe through his mouth, and his eyes opened, arms straining at their straps and his legs quivering at their spread-eagle position. When he knew his enemies were going to kill him, he felt somehow almost secure. But this, this was something different. It was out of character. He had no control over himself now.

An exploring hand moved over his chest to rest on the left side. It began to stroke almost tentatively up and down, in a pattern the Sheikah found strangely… comforting. His body did. His mind was in a panic mode, his heart beating wildly in his chest. A second hand came up and pressed itself, cool and inviting, to the side of his opposite hip; Dear goddesses above. Please, no. Not that. Anything but that. He found there was a stone in the bottom of his stomach, and he couldn't do anything but look on in mute horror. Until Ganon released his lips for a moment, neither of his hands moving.

"I can make your body and your mind enemies," he said gently.

"No," The Sheikah said. "Not that. Please, not…" the kiss continued. He struggled, thrashed, moved violently, but nothing seemed to work. He was pinned underneath a weight greater than his own. Sheik was no wuss; he had had more weapons and muscle training than some of the greatest masters of Hyrule. But this was a weight he couldn't throw.

The straps helped, obviously.

Sheik was a virgin. He'd never been touched in this kind of way before. There was something so wrong, so vile about it, and yet on the surface it felt good as a hand brushed lower, mouth moving to kiss his chest and then down just above his navel, biting and teasing. The Sheikah begged out loud and thrashed even more wildly, his pride no longer an issue. Right as the hand brushed his waistband he somehow, somehow managed to get one ankle free of the bonds that held it. He had no shoes, he realized, but kicked free the other, trying to arch his body enough to roll off the table.

"Don't bother," Ganon hissed with a particularly serpentine smile, and extended an arm. The bonds lashed out and retied themselves around his ankles without hesitation, and he was dragged back onto the table from where he'd slipped.

"You love Link, don't you?" he asked the young man.

Sheik shook his head violently, denying it.

"I seem to think otherwise," he replied nonchalantly. The hand on his waist moved lower to claim his member, and the Sheikah couldn't do more than shut his eyes tightly. He'd heard of people going through things and then thinking it must've been a dream: he had the same sort of feeling now. It couldn't be real. It couldn't be—

Ganon began to stroke his victim's member, still kissing him tenderly on the navel. There was nothing he could do, he thought; his body was betraying him, was tensing up and sending waves of pleasure throughout him. The king noticed and moved his mouth to the top of Sheik's member, running his tongue teasingly over the top of it and then covering it entirely, still stroking it with the other hand, the base of which slipped discreetly up the space between his thighs. Sheik's voice was raw and torn from so much abuse, but he yelled now. This was a different kind of torture. Especially since…

"Link won't want to touch you in this way when I'm done," he whispered.

"Shut… up," Sheik growled, barely audible. "Shut the fuck up, you demon."

"Demon? That's a new one." He grinned, pleased, and held the Sheikah's gaze as he returned his mouth to his member. Sheik couldn't turn away. He just couldn't. Those eyes…

He was still bleeding. More than he should. The blood loss was making him faint, dizzy, as if the world was tilting.

Ganondorf set one knee on the top of the table. When had he discarded with his pants? Gods, no. Goddesses, why? Sheik sent out silent prayers as he found his legs being lifted to the man's shoulders, the table cold against his spine. He couldn't move his arms at all. A finger, covered in some kind of substance, brushed against his opening suddenly. "NO!" he yelled, his last burst of strength. Well, at least his mouth still functioned.

"All you have to do is tell me," the dark one whispered, as two fingers began to probe about his entrance. It was disgusting, it was horrible, it felt awful—no, it felt good. Did it? He didn't know anymore. Pain and pleasure were combining. He was weak from blood loss. If the wounds weren't staunched, he'd die. Good—dying would prove a nice break from this hell. The fingers moved and twisted as if with a practiced life of their own. Maybe Ganon did have practice raping people. Hell, it wouldn't be surprising.

The other hand continued to stroke his member until he came in Ganon's hand, shockwaves licking at his body as he tensed against them. It felt like betrayal. Now he understood what the gerudo had meant. His head and member throbbed simultaneously—he'd felt an orgasm before, but not like this. This was different. Unsacred.

Suddenly he felt a presence at his opening. His legs were spread far apart, and he was helpless to stop it. Without a pause Ganon moved in to kiss him, and at the same time thrust into him. It hurt. No, more than hurting. It was agony, though a kind of bittersweet one. It felt good in a disconcerting way. He was dizzier and dizzier with each second, until he felt himself sink into unconsciousness.

_Link._

Ganon pulled out and thrust back in a second time, pausing for a moment inside the Sheikah before moving even deeper inside him. With a strangled cry that sounded as if it were forced, Sheik came again, and the Gerudo laughed out loud as he dragged each breath, each movement out of the figure beneath him. Finally even Ganon had had enough, and finished with the blonde, then climbed gracefully off the table. Sheik was not a pleasant sight. He was bleeding, raw in the eyes and in the mouth…

He'd die without help.

Slowly Ganon dressed, walked over to a dresser on the other side of the room, pulled out bandages and gauze. Sex made him weak and lazy, too lazy to call for someone who could use healing magics. But he would, eventually.

After all, this had only been the first day.


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: Saaaame as before. xP

To Misty: Yeah, but it needed to be written. Thanks for the gbook sign!

Miarati'minai: HAHAHA. And no, they'll end up together. Thanks for the compliment. Heh, I try to make it as realistic as I can, I guess. To me, Hyrule seems like a real world. That's how I try to write it.

Everyone else who reviewed, thanks:)

* * *

He stirred from his sleep of nightmares by the sound of a door opening. This time it was a guard and a couple of his friends, carrying nasty weapons of a sort. Were they part of his dreams? He was in shock, and he knew it. He couldn't seem to remember anything from the last couple of hours. Post-traumatic shock. It'd be a while before the nightmares overwhelmed him, but until then? He could stave them off. His head turned slowly to face the newcomers.

"The King says we're ta whip ya until yer unconscious n'less ya tell us where the Hero of Time is," one said almost apologetically. They all seemed afraid of him for some reason. Red eyes stared from the darkness, bright despite the dimness of his surroundings.

"So get on with it," Sheik replied coolly, his gaze levelheaded despite still being strapped to the table, covered in blood and things he didn't even want to start thinking about. "My answer has been given."

He wouldn't give anyone the pleasure of hearing him scream. Not this time. Never again, he promised. He had violated his own kind by such a release of his own emotions. A true Sheikah would never do that. But then he wasn't a full Sheikah, now was he? But that was of no consequence.

The whip descended. He closed his eyes, and did not so much as flinch, praying he'd black out quickly enough.

Fire. There was so much fire that he couldn't even open his eyes. Sometime in the middle of the night (but was it really? There was so much darkness in this room he couldn't be sure if it was night or day, rather a twilight somewhere inbetween) he awoke and found that the bonds had been released. Or they were much more lax, either was the same. He couldn't even feel his limbs. They were dead.

He didn't know how long he'd been there. More than four days, and something less than two weeks.

But he knew this much: he'd been used. Tortured. The triforce carving on his chest had been healed sometime in his sleep, and as he raised his head, a movement which took more effort than he cared to give, he realized that he still had no clothes.

Time to formulate an escape. The Sheikah might have been torn physically, but he was more than ready to get out. He wasn't about to wait around for Ganon to show himself again. He felt like a rabbit trapped in its hole, desperate and willing to do anything to avoid pain and further predation.

Rolling off the wooden platform, he crouched on the ground and immediately fell over. His muscles were weaker than he'd expected, and stung with any kind of harassment. His knees buckled and trembled. He let out a slow hiss through his teeth and extended his arm, braced against the cold stone floor, and lifted himself back up to a standing position. So damn weak. He'd never been this weak before in his entire life. It wasn't a good feeling.

He arched his back, trying to lean against the wall with one hand. Bad choice; he stretched a scab from one of the whip strikes and it broke, blood oozing down one side of his body. He collapsed to the floor and his head swam, and for a minute or two he blacked out.

Presently he stirred again, silently cursing everything and carefully turning himself onto one side. But there were his clothes on the floor. Silently he dressed, not bothering to give the blood down his legs and inner thighs a second thought. Whoever had cleaned him up had left that as a reminder; a cruel joke, that. But that's where the dark king's notoriety came from—not from bouncing baby Kokiri on his knee with a paternal smile. The bastard liked to do things like that.

His harp was still there. He tucked it into the folds of his clothing wistfully.

Had he wanted to use his voice, he'd have found that the inside of his throat would not function. But he was now in a sort of half-feral mode, and would not be so stupid as to make noise. He searched the walls of the torture chamber to find that all the weapons had been taken, along with anything that might be of use. He'd have to use his hands, and that wouldn't be easy. He hadn't eaten in—how long was it? It felt like more than a day since one of the guards had shoved a plate of food and stale water under the door.

He crouched in the darkness and prepared to wait.

He didn't have to for long. There was a sudden sound of a bolt from the outside sliding open, and in walked a guard. With a start Sheik recognized him. He was a member of Kakariko village, a tall, bold man with a friendly attitude. What was he doing here, as one of the Dark King's servants? Trying to feed his family, maybe. He'd stood post outside the entry gate to Death Mountain for years, and now that the wars had come about he no longer could find coin, and so had turned to the only refuge he knew: the former Hylian castle.

He saw the empty table and suddenly gave a double blink, then looked around in the darkness, eyes narrowed warily like a cat's. In one hand he carried a naked sword, and the scabbard was on his left side. Other than that he wore no apparent livery but for a shapeless brown tunic and dirty, disgusting boots, and a leather coif as a helmet, with a black cape around his broad shoulders. The man prodded his blade into a corner, as if expecting the darkness to rise up and swallow him.

"Ello?" he called. "Someone in 'ere?"

Sheik darted. Hands came out, in a flash the man crumpled to the floor, out as a candleflame pinched between fingers. Five minutes later he slipped out the room and into the hallway outside, dressed in the clothing of a guard over his customary Sheikah dress, cloak pulled up to disguise his face. The only things to be seen were glittering red eyes.

He hadn't expected there to be two others posted outside. Both came at him at once, giving a yell as they did—he definitely wasn't a guard, and they knew it. _Well, now they'll all know I'm here. Damnit, _Sheik thought, ducking and kicking out at the first one's knee. He tripped, fell, fumbled for his blade as the second was disarmed with a strike to the neck. The Sheikah couldn't keep it up for much longer. He was fading fast, though still strong. Scabs on his back and front tore and bled, but he was in an adrenaline rush now, though limping slightly on one side, and hardly felt the pain. But he knew it wouldn't last long.

"Ey! Get yer ass back 'ere!" one of them shouted and grabbed for his ankle as he tried to move away. Sheik picked up the second guard's sword and stabbed into the opposing hand; there was a cry of pain and the grip loosened. He was just a villager, and an untrained one at that, but he was in the service of the Dark King. There was no help for him now, and he was an enemy to the Sheikah.

He'd lose that hand, though. Pity.

He pulled the cloth on his lower face up higher, as if to compensate for the shaming earlier. Time to get out of this damn palace. He remembered the layout from time spent years ago. But that had been when he and Zelda had still spoken…

* * *

FLASHBACK

"Sheik," she'd said, turning from her little garden to him. She loved that garden. Always tending to the flowers in the center as if they were her children. "You believe me about the dreams, don't you?" Her eyes had been imploring, begging him to put his faith in her.

"Zelda, I…" he had started. Instantly she stood: "You don't, do you? You're just like the rest of them. I thought you and I were friends." She snapped, then quite suddenly walked over to him and placed both hands on his chest. Even at eleven he was remotely taller than her.

"I thought Ganondorf, that fiend, had you thrown out of the city anyhow," she said nastily. Sheik smirked. "Princess. I may be a royal spy, but I am more loyal to you than any other. You should know by now that there's hardly a way to keep me from slipping between the guard's fingers." She didn't meet his gaze, instead staring at his folded-over tunic as if it were frightening her.

"We shouldn't have to handle this," she whispered. "Not by ourselves."

"The Hero will come," Sheik said. "Have faith."

"We're kids, Sheik!" Zelda said, tears already running down her face. She would not cry in front of Impa, her handmaiden, nor in front of her father. But she trusted Sheik. She pressed her nose to his front and cried silently.

The Sheikah looked uncomfortable. A hand crept up around her shoulders in an awkward kind of hug; he wasn't used to dealing with girls yet. His eleven year old mind was still trying to understand the concept of growing, for Din's sake.

Zelda reached a hand into the fold beneath his neck and pulled his tunic off one shoulder. He looked down at her in surprise as she backed away, hands clenched to her skirts. "Look at you," she said in a dead, toneless voice. "Muscles. Scars. Slash-marks. You're not a child, and neither am I. We've got to do something, Sheik," she said, raising her eyes. It was true about the marks. When he was small, Sheik had been put through multiple raucous trainings by Impa in order to prove his worth as a member of his kind. Of course, most of said trainings included things that were not quite so harmless. He still bore one particular scar on his left side courtesy of a failed entry into the Zora's royal treasury. Of course the Hylians would –never- steal from the Zoras, but it was a question of what he was to retrieve and diplomatics had had no hand in it.

He'd been assigned to steal a golden pendant of Ruto's. He had. She'd found out and had him dragged off to be whipped. She still hated him, the cold bitch.

"Sheik," she repeated. "You scare me." She turned away.

"What?" he asked, surprised. "Why?"

"I never know what you're thinking," she said. Her blue eyes flickered, reflected in a small pool of water on the side of the room as they walked over to it. Above them was a windowsill with a pot aside it, entry into a further room in the catacomb of the castle. "Such is our way," he'd responded nonchalantly.

"You should go," she said. "Now. Before my father finds you."

"Princess?"

"Just… leave me alone, Sheik. It's all-right that you don't believe me. I love you, though, and I mean it. When the time comes, I'm going to do all I can to stop Ganon. If that's not enough, and if I fail…" she paused. Her voice broke slightly. "Just take this. Will you?"

And there was a harp. Far nicer than the small one he'd been given when he was little. All the Shiekah were made to learn music—it was considered good for the senses, good for tuning oneself towards nature. But this was something different. It was golden, gilded on the sides with silver and curling outwards on the tips.

"Zelda. I can't take this," he muttered. She looked up, tears sparkling in her eyes. "I had it made 'cause I thought you'd like it," she said. "Just please do it. The next time we meet I might not be able to say goodbye, so I'm doing it now."

"Zelda. Princess. What are you talking about?" he asked,both hands onher shoulders lightly. "Stop it."

"No, Sheik. I'm serious. Don't tell me otherwise. You don't believe in my dreams, and neither does he—(here 'he' was an understood mention of the king)—but it doesn't matter. I know that in just a few days I'll be gone."

She tilted up onto her toes and pressed her lips lightly to his, a tender, innocent kiss, and then turned and ran.

Sheik could only stare stupidly after her.

ENDFLASHBACK

* * *

Sheik sprinted down the hallway. Guards fell left and right; he'd be out of there in no time. And in a moment he could see the glare of daylight through one window. Well, as much of daylight as there ever was outside the castle, which was more of a sort of darkened haze. He heard a noise from behind him, but paid it no mind, not even the shouts and cries of those following him. There was a gouge in the floor: the Sheikah almost tripped, used the momentum to make a light fronthand spring and ended up teetering on the edge of a dark and stormy crevice, the base of which was red with lava.

He hadn't been near the castle. He'd been all over Hyrule, but he hadn't been near Ganon's castle. He didn't know it was floating on… floating above a pool of lava, for Din's sake. His mind was reeling in shock, and he gave a choked sort of noise. What the hell? When had this happened?

A hand clamped down on his shoulder, and he sucked in a hasty breath, trying to twist into a defensive stance. But the person was much stronger than he was and he was in no position to fight frontal combat at the moment. He was overpowered—one arm pinned his limbs about the upper chest, and another arm encircled his waist. "So I see you've discovered that I made a few changes to the castle," the dark voice said from just near his right ear. He shivered. He didn't like being handled by the one who'd raped him only a few hours before.

"Let me go, you bastard," he said through gritted teeth. "I'll kill myself before I'll tell you anything."

"Will you? Such a temper."

Sheik did an odd thing then. Despite the circumstances, he grinned in a broad cheshire's smile.

"Oh, but it's true." He stabbed his guard's sword into Ganon's hand.

And then he jumped.

He could hear a loud curse from above. Ganon might be powerful, and cunning at that, but this was something he hadn't anticipated. Sheik fell down into the lava where he was promptly swallowed by the red liquid. His clothes and boots caught on fire, the guard's attire was incinerated, and his skin crackled and turned black in the space of thirty seconds as his body liquefied into nothing upon the crimson darkness below.

Sheik was a master illusionist. All Sheikah were. He clung onto the rocks below for dear life, knowing full well there'd be no way to recover if he dropped. He set his head against the stone and concentrated, trying to make his own shadow-image as realistic as possible. His death had to seem like a suicide attempt, enough so to put off Ganon from looking for him further.

Apparently it worked.

"Have the guards search the outside," Ganon's voice carried from the opening five feet above his head. He stood rigidly on the narrow ledge of rock he'd dropped onto and pressed his face against it, trying not to breathe the hot, acrid fumes of the lava. He was sweltering after only a few seconds. If this kept up much longer, he wouldn't have to fall to his death; he'd be incinerated as he was.

There was a noise like footsteps and he could see people peering over the ledge, but they couldn't see him. That was to his advantage, at least. Now all he had to do…

There was a small vent in the side of the rock. He shoved his legs in and began crawling his way backwards down it, head bent towards the rock so he didn't hit it. It already burned enough and was throbbing enough to kill him in a few if he didn't get out of here soon.

Down. Down. The darkness swallowed him and he didn't know which way was up, nor down. There was only himself and the vent for nearly half an hour of climbing… his arms burned, his legs burned. Normally they wouldn't have. But in this state…

There was an opening at last, and he pushed one foot through, then felt around for a landing. There wasn't one. It opened slightly towards the end of the shaft: What was this? He put both feet through and felt around. Nothing to step onto. He perched on the edge of the opening and looked into the darkness of a dank and gloomy cavern.

He dropped to his feet inside and immediately ducked into the darkness, waiting for any sign of movement. There were people not too far in front of him, he noticed, and they seemed to either not have noticed his appearance or not cared.

Oh, Gods. They were prisoners. He'd jumped straight into a jailing cell.

There was someone nearby to him, he noticed as he sagged to the floor, defeated. He'd be able to make it out, eventually, but he needed to rest. He was tired… so tired…He didn't even give the other person a second thought until they laid a cold and clammy hand on his arm. He visibly jerked, then drew away.

"Don't be alarmed," A hoarse voice croaked. The owner coughed, their entire body wracked with weakness in the dim light. An ancient Zora, it seemed. Over two hundred years—he had to be. His eyes were bloodshot and his blue skin had paled to a grayish ashen color. "We… are all… prisoners here… how did you get into the cell?"

Sheik pointed to the vent above him silently.

"A Sheikah," the old Zora continued. "I knew they existed, but I never… saw one…" he curled into a smaller ball. He was wearing nothing but a ragged loincloth. Probably his only clothes. He was filthy.. well, the entire cell was. Sheik probably wasn't the cleanest himself at the moment anyways.

"Listen," Sheik said, ignoring his comment and instead eyeing the lock on the door. He could pick it. "I'm going to free the ones in this cell. From which way do the guards come when they patrol?"

The Zora waved a hand dismissively. "We'd have no chance. We are all.. sick here. Some are dead. All of us are near death."

He then peered closer. "You may have a chance. The jail-sickness has not yet touched you."

Sheik didn't like being scrutinized so closely. He pushed the cloth on his face up a bit higher. "Chance?" he said in a raspy voice long from unuse. The Zora nodded and produced something which had been tied around his waist and concealed beneath the rags about himself. An amulet.

"It's not much," he said. "But it responds to the old songs, if you know them."

"…What does it do?"

"It will take you back to the altar we Zora used once."

Now he merely felt a sense of guilt, and also one of hope.

"Why aren't you using it?"

The Zora looked away. "I never learned the songs. There is nothing left for me. Soon I will die, and my family before me has all been frozen to ice and died…" he paused. "When the Dark King came to our domain we thought nothing could happen. We were peaceful, innocent then. Now… now there's nothing much left."

Sheik suddenly frowned in the darkness, so that none but he could see. "The Hero of Time will come. You'll be released. Don't lose faith."

The Zora sighed.

"I believed in fairy tales once," he said, then leaned back against the wall. Sheik narrowed his eyes at him, but he did not stir again. The Sheikah crouched against the wall, holding the amulet and looking at the symbol on it with curiosity and wonder. He could barely make out the design, but from what he could see…

Ah, a triforce.

His lips were hoarse and chapped. He didn't even think he had a chance at the tune. But Impa had taught it to him, once, when he was very small… Zelda loved to sing it. He knew it by heart. He licked his mouth and very, very softly began to sing the Royal lullaby.

It did not echo. It did not resonate. The tune died from his lips as soon as it reached the air, as if the air around him were actually sucking in the music. Four bars, then five, then six of the melody… and still, nothing.

"Twice more," The old Zora said, his voice no more than a whisper.

"What's your name?" Sheik asked, looking up.

The old man put a finger to his own lips in a be-quiet movement. "I am Milo. The guards will come soon to take us for questioning. Be quick."

Their voices reached the ears of those further up in the cell, and a few heads raised, eyes dull, revealing souls without hope or faith locked inside decrepit bodies. Disease was their companion, Sheik saw, and unable to look more stared back down at the amulet.

He whistled it twice more, the notes barely there they were so soft. There was a dull light emanating from it, and suddenly tendrils reached from the triforce symbol and wrapped around his wrists. There was a flash of brightness—

"Sheik?"

Sheik had obviously appeared in the middle of a battle. There was fire all around him, and he leapt back, startled. His muscles protested and he tripped. The third time tripping in his life… ever. What a record. It wasn't so much the fact that there were two white wolfos incinerating in front of him, so much as that the owner of the voice was to his left, sword raised, hand extended.

"…Goddesses," he muttered, putting a hand to his forehead. The amulet was gone. The last of the glow faded from his skin as he pushed himself back to a standing position. Everything was cold, much colder than it ought to have been.

He shivered. "What the—Link?" he looked at the proffered hand, and then to its owner. His heart gave a little leap. "So you did find the ice cavern on your own."

"It wasn't easy," Link said, his face changing. "But I can get into the water temple now."

"Then I'll teach you the song," Sheik said, his voice quavering slightly from relief. He was out of the castle. He was out of the castle. He was out…

"Sheik, where have you been?" Link asked, suddenly folding his arms to look the Sheikah up and down. "You look like you've been dragged through hell."

Sheik paused, hands about to touch the strings of the harp.

"Perhaps," he answered.

Link blinked. "You weren't…"

"It doesn't matter, Link."

End of conversation. The first lilting strains of the Serenade of Water were produced with hands that longed to play, and for a second there was nothing in the world but Sheik, his harp, and the Hero of Time. Link repeated the song without questioning; it was an old process, this.

The melody died away.

"Sheik. I still don't know anything about you. Why are you helping me?"

"I'm sworn to it."

"…That's all?"

Sheik winced. What could he say? _Yes, Link. I think I may just love you_. But it wasn't love, it couldn't be. He had simply spent the last seven years of his life training to be an acolyte to him, and now that the Hero had arrived in Hyrule he was… star struck? Was that the word? And was that even it?

"Yeah. That's all."

There was silence then. Awkward silence.

"Sheik, they're all counting on me. I don't know what anything is anymore."

He wanted to say something. He wanted to tell him, he wanted to tell him so badly, but he couldn't. The words burned to be released. But he couldn't.

Sheik moved backwards and cloaked himself with an invisibility spell, crouching into the wall. He noted the look of surprise as Link looked around, still baffled how he could have disappeared so silently without so much as a word of goodbye.

There was a pause. A short, sad chuckle, and the Master Sword was sheathed at his side. "Until next we meet," Link said, then turned and walked back through the chamber door. Sheik crouched in the semidarkness for a long time until he was sure Link was gone, sure he was out of the icy cavern.

Then he stood.

He didn't expect for what happened next. A rupture of pain lanced across his back, and he stumbled, the invisibility spell flickering and then dying. Some form of liquid oozed and trickled down his back underneath his clothing, and he couldn't move.

_Darkness again?_ He wondered before passing out.


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: Same as before. D'oh!

* * *

The first thing he knew he was lying in water. The images of a torture chamber flashed across his mind and he jerked wildly out of haunting nightmares that encapsulated him in nothing, and dragged him back into nothing; where was he? Was he going to be…?

He shouted raggedly and thrashed out with both arms, but hit nothing.

And a light brushed gently across his face. He opened his eyes, sat up straight to discover he wasn't bound at all. He was entirely free, and his clothes—ah, Sheikah clothes!—were back as they had been before. No sign of the filthy guard clothing remained, nor of the bloody scabs on his back and arms when he twisted to see. Whoever had mended him had done a good job… but where were they?

He was in some kind of chamber. Triforces lined the walls, moving slowly and languidly up until they reached the black abyss that was the ceiling. He seemed to be lying in a shallow pool of warm water, about five inches deep, and made of marble. Small lights passed around him: stray fairies. This was a fairy fountain.

"Hee… you're awaaaaake!" came a cheerful voice, and he felt two hands on his shoulders. He craned his neck around to see a crimson-haired lady, smaller than him by a foot or two, with a skimpy little outfit on. How odd.

"…Where is this?" he asked.

"This? This is my fountain. Duh! It's right next to the Zora altar, only now the altar's all frozen over and everyone calls it the Ice Caverns and Jabu Jabu's gone so I get lonely." She pouted. "Until I found you! You were hurt pretty badly, you know. Might even have died. Why were you wearing a pendant of Farore's wind? That's my name, you know. Farore."

Sheik stared. She'd spoken very quickly and in a very high-pitched, though melodious, voice. It was hard to understand, but after a moment he replied. "Someone gave it to me."

"Oh! That's a good gift. They must like you. Well, you're the second Sheikah I've seen this week. And you're handsome, too. Can I see what's behind your covering?" she made a pouty face and leaned her head coyly onto his shoulder, another hand coming around from behind and pulling at the cloth teasingly.

Sheik started and moved away from her to the side, hand pressing on the white fabric. "No," he said firmly. "It's a Sheikah tradition."

She frowned. "Weeeeell. I guess if they all do that. But the last one didn't cover her face."

Only one Sheikah in all of Hyrule left their face uncovered. "Did she give her name?" Sheik asked, his heart leaping.

"Impa. She was all pretty, with white hair and red eyes just like yours! You're lucky, you know. Your looks are wasted on a young man—hey, are you listening to me?"

Sheik wasn't. He was thinking. Impa… then she was nearby! He needed to speak with her so badly, needed to tell her all that had happened. He needed her to give him a watch protection sigil so Ganon wouldn't find him. Ganon… Ganon would be looking for him. His old adversary wasn't one to quit on the drop of a hat.

"The Dark King is looking for me," Sheik said, rising off the floor (or pool, rather, though there was floor underneath. What was in this water, anyways?). "I must go."

"I know. I felt it," Farore replied. "'Cause you know, we fairies can feel that sort of magic. But you know, he must not be very good at finding people 'cause he still hasn't found this place and it's already been three days."

Sheik bolted to his feet. "Three days! Goddesses!" he turned to make for the doorway, but a grasp at his arm made him turn. The fairy had both her arms twined around his upper torso, eyes looking at him pleadingly, her legs and lower half completely floating in the air. Little sparkles surrounded them both.

"Pleeease don't go before you've had breakfast at least! You won't find anything good to eat anytime soon that's better than fairy cooking, I promise!" She looked so forlorn that all Sheik could do was nod his head.

In a few moments she returned with something: a plate of cuckoo eggs and toast, and Lon Lon milk. Where'd she gotten all this? Lon Lon Ranch hardly put out exports anymore since Ingo had taken over. Maybe she'd just conjured it up. Who knew what kinds of magic faeries had? He began to eat, pondering his situation quietly.

"You don't talk very much," Farore noted. His eyes slid sideways to meet hers. "I thank you for your hospitality, and also for healing me," he said then, to console her. "I thank you because I may have died if you had not. Is that what you want to hear?"

"No. I wanna hear about you and the Hero of Time. Everyone's calling you the Sacred Acolyte, you know, 'cause you two are saving Hyrule all by yourselves."

"I never chose to save Hyrule. I never chose to be his acolyte."

And what else could he have done? What other choice would he have?

"Well, are you two friends? You must be, if you're doing all this salvation business by yourselves."

"…I don't know," Sheik said, scratching his head. "I don't get to see him much. I can't go into the temples with him—I'd be torn apart. I'm not a sage. But I help out when I can." He looked up to see that Farore was watching him intently, a small, secretive smile on her face. "What?" he asked, feeling a bit irritated, though he didn't know why.

"Hee, you—" she shook her head. "Nothing."

* * *

Sheik stood just inside the entrance to Lake Hylia, his arms folded in anticipation. Would Link be finished? Would he be outside the temple now? He didn't know. He couldn't wait to see him, couldn't wait to speak with him…

But he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to go to the center island and see for himself just yet. What if Link was dead?

There was a noise that sounded like groaning. Sheik shielded his eyes against the morning sun, staring out at the empty expanse that had been the lake, once upon a time. It began with a shivering that spread throughout the earth, trembling under his feet, and then bursting through in a hideous kind of shriek. Now it was growing…It sounded as if an enormous roaring was gathering, and with it a swirling and slushing sound that could only be…

…water. Tons of water. The water was returning to Hylia!

Link had won! Sheik grinned underneath his mask and sprinted over the two bridges to the center island, but paused halfway across the second bridge. Link was there, all-right, but so was Ruto. Gah. Where had she come from? Oh, right… she was the water sage, wasn't she? Wasn't that what Impa had said?

"Darling, you made me wait seven years. I won't forgive you anytime soon if you don't kiss me," Ruto sang, one hand around Link's neck and the other grasping the water medallion, blue and sparkling in the morning sun. Link tried to edge away sideways, but her grip was tight, and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Ruto. I am not. Going. To marry you. Get that through your head, will you?" he replied in a steady voice. She looked first shocked, then angry; her hands curled and she chucked the medallion at his head. It connected with a metallic _thwang. _"HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT TO ME! ME, YOUR BRIDE?" she put a hand to her throat as if she'd been disgraced. "AFTER I'VE LOVED Y—Oh, it's you." She turned her head suddenly, her voice quieting, and stared at Sheik as he stood there. "Bastard Sheikah."

"No, go on ahead. I was enjoying the spectacle," Sheik said, smiling behind his face mask. She fumed—he could almost see the warning lights flashing in her eyes. "What are _you _doing, trespassing on me and my husband?"

"You're going to get him to marry you? Eugh, think of the children," Sheik said.

"Are you ever going to return that jewelry you stole from me, Sheikah?" she demanded. Change of topic, eh? Maybe she hadn't figured out the matter of children yet.

"No," Sheik replied. "It's Impa's now. I think she likes it. And I've got the nifty scars for myself."

"Hmph. I hope Myzo whipped you until you bled," she said with a sneer.

"Oh, he did. I think they look rather dashing, though." Sheik flashed her another grin.

"My, a sense of humor? When did you come by one of those?"

"Right after I noticed you trying to woo the Hero of Time into marrying your ugly amphibious personage," Sheik said with a flourish, and then bowed mockingly. "Now begone."

Ruto clenched her hands. "You disgusting… you… AUGH!" she screamed and then dove into the water, pectoral fins flapping before she hit the surface. In a moment she'd disappeared entirely, but then broke the surface again, her head bobbing back up. "I'm the water sage, you know! I deserve respect!"

"You're looking in the wrong place," Sheik countered. "I didn't like you before you were the sage and I sure as hell don't like you now."

She dove back under the water and splashed both Link and Sheik with a wave of cold water. Both of them stumbled back to avoid most of it, but Sheik was still doused when it had passed. "I hate her," he grumbled under his breath.

"Sheik!" he was mildly surprised to find arms wrapping around his shoulders. Link was shorter by an inch or two, but not by much, and the effect was still startling. "Ah, I didn't think I'd see you again! That last creature was harder than ever… and I had to fight myself."

Sheik stiffened. "What?"

"It was… it was me, but it wasn't. It was like a dark version, you see. I don't even know where it came from." Link unwrapped his arms and looked up at the Sheikah.

"Ganon's creation," Sheik replied solemnly. "You've already fought his shadow image, so he tried to make one of you, no doubt. I'm glad you won." He turned his red eyes off to the side, feeling himself grow warm and his face burn at the sudden realization that Link was, in fact, standing not three inches away from him. "I'm glad you made it out alive."

"So you do care if I die or not." Link grinned, folding his arms. "Does this mean we _are_ friends, after all?"

The same question that Farore had asked him. Was Link his friend?

"…Yes," Sheik said, and without quite knowing why took Link's hand in his own. "We're friends. More than that."

Link squeezed his hand back, smiling. "Glad to hear it."

Sheik suddenly felt an overwhelming willingness to tell him. To tell him about his crazy, mismatched feelings, so out of place in the businesslike way they were supposed to behave. Nothing ever made sense with Link around, did it? Was that what love did? Sheik blinked and released his hand. "Look out there," he said, motioning to the lake. "It's all filled."

Link took his eyes off Sheik for the first time. "Is that what happened? Did I… did I do that?" Link stepped forward, staring out at the expanse of water. Sheik chose now to make his escape; he leapt straight up and into the nearby tree, crouching amongst its branches, pulling his facemask up higher out of sheer habit and nothing more. Well, he had Farore's healing to praise for that. All his muscle tone had returned, it seemed, and he was good as new. During the daytime, at least.

"Sheik, how did all of this hap—" he turned around. "Sheik?"

He looked around, a distraught expression on his face. Never thought to look up. He was so battle hardened, so tall and strong, but there were some parts of him that were still childish. A young boy trapped in a young man's body; yes, that was what he was. After all, he had only been ten when Rauru had locked him away. Really, he'd seen more than many soldiers had in those short ten years, but still…

"I know you're still here somewhere," Link said flatly. "I don't know why you disappear every time I want to talk with you. You're the only person I really care about, y'know. Saria's a sage, Malon's being forced to work for Ingo…" he paused. "I'll see you around, Sheik."

With that he started away. Sheik sighed and crouched further into the branches.


	7. Chapter 7

"DISCLAIMER: Go back to the beginning if you've been referred here.

Hee, two chapters in one night. Actually, I just wanted to publish these two together.. so there. Enjoy!

* * *

The first thing he heard when he rounded the corner up the path to Kakariko village was screaming.

His first instinct was to get to the side, and he did.

His second instinct was to crouch low, and he did.

A man on fire ran past. Huh. Well, that was a bit abnormal, considering that Kakariko was one of the last havens from Ganon. _Dear Goddesses, _he thought, _Has Ganon come here at last? _

The man disappeared down the slope entirely and Sheik sprinted to the center of the village, adrenaline pumping. The trees were all alight, and the thatched roofs of the houses as well. It all looked surreal, as if everything had been bathed in blood and ghostly fire; what was this? Who had done this? There were crowds of people running here and there, some wounded or dripping blood as they went. All around was the sound of anguished screaming and crying, as if the Kakarikans were damned people rising from the grave. In the center was where the greatest maw lay. There was debris all around, and even the grasses and cobblestones were aflame. A mother lay on the ground, her dress smoldering, and quite obviously dead. A small child clung to her dress. "Mama! Mama, we have to get home…" she wailed, pressing her face to the fabric. The woman's skull had been crushed. By what, Sheik wondered?

"Come on, now," he said to the little girl, a note of sympathy struck. "Let's get you inside." She looked up at him with enormous liquid eyes, then began to sob into his shoulder. She couldn't have been more than two or three years old.

"…Is mama going to be… okay…?" she asked into his shirt. He nodded, feeling like a liar: "Of course. Come with me for now, though." He picked her up and looked around for shelter in the crowd of people running about, but couldn't find any, and squinted into the sea of red to try and pick out anything.

Impa.

No more than a flash of white hair at the corner of his vision and he turned to the side to see her: she was standing in front of the well, her hair unbound and flowing in the rising heat of the flames. The well itself was on fire as well, and though all around her was chaos, she was completely still, and staring at him with a wicked grin on her face.

"Impa, how did this happen?" he shouted above the crowd, pushing his way through, the child still clasped in his arms. "What's going on?"

She didn't reply, but narrowed her eyes. The effect was sinister. She turned towards the well, and was silent for a long time. "Impa, damn you, your house is going to burn to the ground!" he pleaded. "Do something!"

She did reply then. "There is something in the well. It's evil. I can feel it. Tame it, won't you?"

She began to stride away, boots making small crackling noises on the lit grass. Sheik deftly moved between patches to avoid licks of flames, and caught up with her, reaching out with his free hand to grab her shoulder. "No you don't. Not again. Where have you been for the last three months? You can't leave me to tame this thing by myself! Look what it did to Kakariko!" He was strong, but not _that strong. _What did she expect of him?

"The house is yours now," she replied. "I have no further need of it. I am going to the Shadow Temple to assuage the spirits that are restless there. And this one, too, if it escapes. Bongo Bongo will be waiting for me in the temple."

"…But you can't," Sheik replied desperately. "You'll die."

She turned around and gave him a fierce look. "Did I never tell you that I am the Sage of Shadows?"

Sheik was taken aback. "… No," he said, shifting the little girl in his arms. She whimpered softly, confused. "No, you didn't. Why is this happening? Why now?"

"Ganon's looking for you," she replied. "You'd better get this under control. Let this be your final exam, Sheik, and then you'll be a full blooded Sheikah. Isn't that what you've always wanted? To be a real Sheikah?"

"_I am a real Sheikah_!" he snapped. "The ancient decrees speak that we Sheikah are to help the Royal Family, but all you've done for the last seven years is run away! If I see you once a year I consider myself lucky!" he gave a noise of irritation.

"You may consider yourself a full Sheikah," she countered, "But you are still only the half-product of a Sheikah woman and a Hylian. Don't forget that."

He stared at her, red eyes reflecting the flames and growing in intensity.

"Link will be by soon," Impa said passively. "You had better get this under control by then. He will be visiting my temple, and I must be there to keep the creatures of the Dark King at bay until he does. I help the Royal Family, Sheik, more than you know. I do what I can." She moved forward. "You don't have the cold heart of a Sheikah, boy. That child in your arms is proof enough."

She turned the corner into the graveyard. Sheik leapt over a wall of flames and meant to catch her, but she was gone.

"Damnit!" he cursed, looking down at the girl to make sure she was still all-right. She seemed to be sleeping. He turned back to the side of Kakariko nearest Death Mountain. There! Up at the top of the hill the houses were free of flames. The fire was mostly down along the grassy parts and the center area. He made his way up the slope and to the very topmost house, where he knocked on the door briskly.

A woman answered, her face stony and silent. "The village is awry," Sheik told her. "This girl needs somewhere to stay until everything is under control." The woman lifted the child out of his arms and he turned away, going back to the center.

He cast a quick protection over himself to ensure he wouldn't die, and then an anti-fire sigil as well for good measure. As he neared the edge of the well, he could see that people were beginning to get themselves together: buckets of water were handed about, and a brisk rain was starting to fall for the moment. The flames were half the size they had been before.

The presence weighed on his mind like poison. It was sharp and tangy, almost palpable, and he put out his arms in a guard-like stance as he moved to the very edge.

"Creature of the well," he said quietly, "Calm yourself. We are not your enemies. Why have you awakened?"

_Because it is time_

"Time for what?"

_The Hero will be in my temple_

"Your temple?"

_Stupid Sheikah, you're in my way_

Sheik was suddenly startled by a noise behind him, and he spun quickly to tell the newcomer to get the hell away from the village and go somewhere safe.

It was Link.

"What's going on here, Sheik?" he asked, the Master Sword unslung from his side and at ready position. He looked fierce, prepared to do battle with whatever was in the well. What had Impa called it? Bongo Bongo? Stupid name.

"Get out of here, Link!" he shouted over a sudden roaring in the base of the well. "It's about to—" he didn't get to finish his sentence because he was grabbed about the middle by some unseen force and shaken around like a broken rag doll, then upsided and thrown onto the ground on his shoulder.

Then everything was black for a short while.

* * *

When he awoke he pushed himself onto his good arm with a cringe, looking over to see Link slumped over against the other side of the center courtyard. Sheik cursed under his breath, ignored the pain and made his way over, checking the Hylian to see if he was breathing. He was. Well, that was good. What's more, he was regaining consciousness. Sheik knelt at his side and waited until Link's eyes refocused and opened: "Where… is this?" he looked over to the side and saw the well, just past Sheik, and flopped back against the wall. "Fantastic. Well, I won't be charging that spirit again anytime soon," he groaned. "Are you hurt, Sheik?"

"No," Sheik replied. "I think it just wanted to get back to the Shadow Temple."

Sheik stood. The village was still smoldering, though people were working together now, and some of the fires were going out. He had to do something; he looked around, surveying the damage, then looked to the sky. He whispered something under his breath and made a sign with the hand that wasn't connected to his injured shoulder.

Rain began to fall, cool and inviting, all over the village. Clouds descended over the haze that had surrounded Kakariko, real, true stormclouds and not the omens of dark magic. It was blissfully quiet after that, save for the sizzling of fires going out and the halfhearted cheers of the people that were still around, who hadn't fled the village.

He looked to his left to see Link standing behind him, arms folded. "So you can use magic?" He asked timidly. He really was like a little kid sometimes. "Er. Yeah. My father taught me," Sheik said, rubbing the back of his head. Sheikah weren't supposed to know how to use that kind of magic; they were only supposed to learn the healing and cloaking arts. Making rain fall was taboo. But Link didn't know that. Maybe that was a good thing.

"Are ye two gents the ones who saved Kak'riko?" a voice said from behind them. And then: "Sheik? S'that you?"

"Anju." The red-haired cuckoo lady looked truly happy to see him, though he didn't know her very well at all. He gave her a small nod.

"Sheik did it," Link said as he came up behind with a proud expression, waving a hand dismissively. Sheik's face flamed behind his mask; he was more modest than he ought to be, but he felt somehow guilty for using that rain-spell, as if he was being disloyal to his kind. Maybe Impa was right. Maybe he wasn't cut out to be a full-blooded Sheikah. But did he really want to become the cold blooded killer the rest of his race wanted him to be?

"Well! That's might 'mpressive of ye, I'd have t'say. Most a' th'village's fine fer now, but some parts got burned. I think th'inn's one of 'em. Are ye two stayin' th'night?"

"…I don't know," Link said, unfurling his arms and looking confused for the first time. "I'm supposed to go to the Shadow temple, but I don't even know where it is."

"Oh, as to that," Sheik said, grateful for something he could do. "It's in the graveyard. It's hidden from view for most, and it's a high climb, so you can't reach it unless you know the song."

Link grinned. "Great. Let's get inside from this rain and you can teach me, then?"

Anju gave a cursty. "T'would be m'pleasure ta host ye two up in my house fer th'night if ye've nowhere to stay," she offered, her short red hair falling in front of her eyes. Sheik looked at her, and then up to the top of the hill, where the lights of Impa's house stood twinkling, perpetually the guardian of the village even in the absence of its owner.

"Impa gave me her house," Sheik said. "I don't know what that means, but I think I own it now."

"Well. Then I see m'services won't be needed," Anju said with a deep smile, then gave another curtsy and turned. "Have a good night, ye hear?"

Sheik and Link stood staring at each other. "You can stay the night at Impa's… well, er, my house, if you want," Sheik said. "I've lived there for a while before, so I think I know where she keeps the extra things. Besides, I guess I need to teach you that song, don't I?" More direct words towards Link than he'd ever spoken before casually. Maybe it was a new record.

They moved up the hill together, not saying anything and not really needing to. Sheik took comfort just in being near Link. Once they got inside, Sheik seemed to know what to do to make dinner, and did. Afterwards he taught Link the Nocturne of Shadow, which he seemed to pick up quickly, and they sat by the modest fireplace, talking. It was a familiar feeling, but he couldn't place from where; his childhood, maybe? He sure as hell hadn't ever spent an evening with Impa talking. When she'd been his teacher she'd hardly ever said five words to him when it wasn't important. "Sheikah Code of Silence' and all that rubbish.

"It's weird," Link said out of nowhere. "You never actually stick around to talk to me. I haven't gotten a chance to rest. I feel like I'm stuck on a fast-moving horse heading for a cliff, and there's no-one to help me." He sighed. "You must think I'm complaining."

"Not at all," Sheik replied in a quiet voice. He thought back to Ganon; would the Dark Lord think of finding him here? Would he be safe for a while? He hadn't seen any troops around, but…

"At least we're safe here for a while," Link said, as if reading his thoughts. Sheik turned to face his profile in the light, once again amazed at the delicate line from just under his ear to the bottom of his chin, of the bones that made up his face, and of the eyes

that seemed to be always asking a question.

"Hey, Sheik?"

"Yeah?" he un-wravelled the straps on his gloves. If he didn't need to do any fighting anytime soon there was no sense in keeping them on.

"...I...er..." Link braced his arm against the wooden flooring, mouth twisted as if he had something difficult to say but couldn't bring himself to do so.

"What is it?" Sheik asked, putting his hand on Link's shoulder amiably.

Link turned to face him fully in the candlelight. "You might think that.. well, uh, I just want to say that I worry about you when I'm in the temples. I thought about you while I was fighting that other version of me." he shrugged. "I think about you a lot."

Sheik chose this moment to fumble embarrassedly with the cloth on his face. It was warm in there--and it wasn't just the fire, either.

"Can I see what's behind your mask?" he asked suddenly.

Sheik blinked. "Behind... this?" he asked dumbly, though he'd understood the question perfectly. "I.." Sheikah weren't supposed to ever remove their face-coverings. It was a part of life, a part of the decree that Nayru had given to all Sheikah in the beginning of time. But Link was the Hero of Time, wasn't he? Did that make it all-right to reveal the one part of himself that he'd never shown to anyone except his parents?

One hand came up slowly to draw the white fabric away from his nose and chin, and then he took off the head covering as well. Blonde hair was just past his ears now, and he realized with a glance at his own hands that he was getting almost pale underneath the heavy blue clothing. Was his face that pale as well?Link murmured something. Whether it was of happiness or something else, he couldn't tell, but when he lifted his eyes again, the Hylian was smiling.

"Well, now I finally get to see what you look like."

"That makes you the third one," Sheik said. "My mother, my father, and--" he broke off.

_Ganon removed my face-mask. Right before he..._

"And me?"

"And you," Sheik said, voice faltering as he nearly drowned in memories he'd worked so hard to put far away where they couldn't be brought back to light.

Then it happened.

Link moved forward, his eyes wide and wondering, and pressed his lips to Sheik's. And as much as his mind told him to, as much as he knew that he ought to and had to and couldn't, he just couldn't bring himself… couldn't make himself resist.

A hand came up behind his head and the kiss deepened as Sheik responded automatically, one arm shifting around Link's shoulders and tightening in its grip. There was a moment of ecstasy in which he was lost--_he feels the same way?-- _but he was falling, falling downward through a bliss that knew no end. There was no end and no beginning and nothing could possibly break his happiness right now.

Suddenly Link pulled away and pressed his hand to the tip of his nose, cheeks flaming. "I'm sorry," he said. "I honestly don't know what came over me. I really don't... Sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

Sheik frowned. "You... didn't?"

"No, I--" he trailed off. "Not unless you feel the same way, I mean. I don't know. I'm confused. I'm confusing myself, for Din's sake."

"Link," Sheik said then, "I love you." there was a bittersweet ring to the words in his own ears.

This time the kiss didn't break. It was perfect and whole, and in a matter of minutes it had somehow wound up that Sheik was on top of Link and they were both on the floor in front of the fireplace, mouths still locked in place, and ah, gods how had he ended up on top? But really, it wasn't all that odd. He had both hands on Link's shoulders and it all seemed so _right _and so harmonious all at once.

Link's hands unfastened the ties around Sheik's waist, and his Sheikah attire with it, until Sheik's shirt came away and fell into a crumpled heap at the floor. He didn't mind, though; it was a good feeling, the Hylian's hands exploring over his chest in a way that was entirely alien and yet entirely familiar in so many ways.

"Sheik, do you...?" Link asked, his eyelids low, a look of rapture spread accross his high-boned features. "Is this all-right with you?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Sheik said, a half-smirk on his face.

Link's eyes alit with a soft blue and he kissed Sheik again. Sheik unbuttoned the top of Link's blue tunic and brushed past it, leaving only his longsleeved white undershirt, beneath which a mesh of tanned skin and sinew was barely visible. Just the sight of it was enough to send his emotions crazy again and he peeled off the second layer as well, pressing on both his shoulders with outstretched palms. Link's skin was smooth, unmarred, and beginning to take the appearance of a full-grown man, right down to the fine thatch of hairs barely visible at the waistline of his low-cut pants.

"You don't have any scars," Sheik laughed, amazed, one hand on Link's chest.

"And you have plenty enough for both of us. Where'd you get them all?"

"Here and there. Impa liked to send me on impossible tasks."

Link pulled a maneuver then: he put both hands on Sheik' shoulders and pushed until the Sheikah rolled over, and Link was on top, an easy smile on his face. He retuned the favor of doing away with Sheik's pants, going about it almost eagerly. Sheik stared Link in the eyes and found it nearly impossible to look away. _So this is why he was chosen as the Hero of Time. Of course. _It made perfect sense; the electricity there, the steel and passion belying the innocent exterior were all those of a man, not of a young boy. He was a hero in every sense of the word.

Link pressed his mouth to the hollow between Sheik's neck and his shoulder, and he shivered as pleasure flooded his entire body. He gave a low moan and knotted his hands against the wooden floor, closing his eyes as he felt hands and lips going lower and lower and lower, down his chest and sides, hands trailing until they began to work below his navel.

And damn, he knew what he was doing. "My God, Link," he gasped, writhing on the floor a little, his back arching as Link took his entire manhood into his mouth. A fiery moistness spread all throughout his body, pooling into his groin and only growing from there as Link moved his lips to the very sensitive tip, each nerve twinging with rhapsody, then replaced it with his hands. He was about to orgasm when suddenly all touch retreated--but only for a moment. He felt a presence beneath his legs and he pressed his head against the wood as Link thrust himself deep into Sheik.

He didn't make noise; that was not the way of a Sheikah, really. When Ganon had raped him, he had screamed and pleaded. But for this kind, for this sort of love there was no words, nothing palpable that could honestly be said except that it was entire and complete bliss. He did come into Link's hand after the stimulation pushed him over the edge, and whether Link did or not he couldn't tell because he was floating, and entirely, completely happier than he'd ever been in his life.

Everything that happened after that was a blur of limbs and kisses and touches that were so featherlight they may not have been there at all.

The both of them lay there, breathing hard, with Link's head on Sheik's chest and at a perpendicular angle to him. He put the one hand that was still gloved on Link's head; "I love you," Link said softly, taking the hand in his own. "I have. Ever since you taught me the first song. It wasn't about the songs. I was just glad to see you when I could." he turned his head to look sideways at Sheik, and Sheik sighed contentedly before he replied. "I loved you before I really knew you. Impa was training me to be an acolyte to you when the sages released you... I adored you, worshipped you, thought you must be a new god arising."

Link looked mildly surprised, and pleased as well. "I'm flattered. Who gave you the job of being my acolyte?"

"I partially asked for it and partially had it bestowed upon me. I'm not a full-blooded Sheikah--my father was a knight in the service of the Royal Family. And then when it was offered to me..." he was silent for a moment. Why _had _he wanted it so badly? "I wanted to protect Zelda," he said, sounding surprised at this newfound revelation. "Impa told me that... she said if I took care of you, then Zelda would awaken someday."

"Impa's cold," Link said, reaching up and toying with a lock of Sheik's hair. "Was she really your teacher?"

Sheik snorted lightly. "She left me to fend for myself. Maybe that was the best kind of teaching. I'd wander in here to find a note pinned to the table, telling me she wanted me to steal something-or-other, and I'd catch neither hide nor hair of her until I'd put whatever it was she wanted on the table. And then somehow she'd always know where to come. Sometimes I didn't give the things I stole to her. I gave them to Zelda; but Zelda never liked them. She used to play such the sanctimonious princess, and she'd go off on me..." he sighed. "She loved me like a brother. She loved you more than that."

"And you loved her like a sister?" Link asked. He didn't deny the claim against him, though he showed no interest in it. He only seemed to be interested in looking at Sheik.

"Yes," Sheik said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I did."

"Then I'll get her back for you," Link said, sounding determined. "If I can, I'll bring her back safely from wherever she's sleeping."

Sheik grinned and shook his head. He'd never been this free with anyone in his life. It felt amazing to be able to talk, to be open. The promise held gravity, and maybe Link didn't know what he was talking about, but he sure seemed dead set on it.

"Let's go to sleep."

* * *

Deep down in the valley near the base of Kakariko, a company of lizalfos lay in wait.

One looked at its partner, helmet and scale-like skin glinting in the moonlight. "What are we doing here?" it asked in a tongue that was foreign to any who heard it.

"We have orders from the Kazed-ha. We are looking for the traitorous Hero of Time," the other replied, "And the Sheikah, the former Royal Spy." _kazed-ha _was the title for Dark King in the Lizalfian language. There could be no mistake over whom they were speaking of.

"Surely not the Great Impa?"

"No. Her student."

"Then we shall go tonight," the first said, pounding its fist into its palm. The second put a calming hand on its partner's shoulder: "No. They are both armed and dangerous. We will go tomorrow night."

There was a harsh, serpentine sigh.

"Very well then. Tomorrow night."


	8. Chapter 8

In the middle of the night he awoke screaming, a hand pressed down on his mouth, arms pinned to the bed.

He was just shouting incoherent words: mainly lots of imperatives, such as 'don't, and 'stop' and 'no'. He was back in Ganon's torture chamber, he was back on that table, he was back there and he knew that any moment the Dark King would kill him and be done with it—

A face glared down at him, the hot stare almost tangible. A strong nose and face, and a rugged chin and that hair, he'd know it anywhere, and the Dark King's face broke into a wild grin. "It's a matter of time," he said.

"Sheik! Sheik… stop, you'll wake the entire village! Sheik, it's me!"

He gasped for breath. He'd never had a nightmare that powerful before. He'd killed people. He'd burned homes, families, creatures of all kinds for the cause of the Kingdom. He'd never found a guilty conscience troubled him in the evening before.

He opened his eyes. Link was kneeling on his chest, wearing only his pants, pressing one gloved hand to his mouth and the other to his outstretched wrist, presumably to keep him from hurting himself.

He relaxed slowly, rigid muscle giving into itself until he felt like liquid. "Ngh…" he put a hand to his forehead. Link let go of both mouth and wrist and settled on the bed near to him, an immobile, permanent weight in more than just a physical sense. He folded his hands in his lap, and Sheik could see that the one that had been over his mouth was bleeding. Had he bitten Link in his sleep? Wow.

"You were dreaming."

"I know." He sighed, inaudible.

"What.. about?"

"…"

"Was it something bad?"

"Yes. I was dreaming of Ganon." He couldn't make himself say the rest of it. It wasn't that he didn't want Link to know, but…well, he just didn't quite know what to say about it. Knowing Link, he'd probably be depressed on his behalf, and he couldn't have that. Duty was duty. In the morning Sheik would still be the Acolyte and Link, the Hero of Time.

"So you've met him?" Link's eyes searched his inquiringly. He knew. He didn't seem to care about the blood coming from his hand, either.

"…Yes." When he was the Royal Spy, Ganon had been the lord commander of the court. Sheik was there the day he imprinted the Door of Time with evil and Impa fled the castle with Zelda astride her white mare.

He'd stolen things from Ganon's personal chambers from time to time, just for fun—brooches, elaborate goldenware, nothing too large. But he gained an iota of satisfaction from hurting Ganon where he could.

He hadn't believed Zelda when she'd told him of the dreams. The dreams where Ganon was a dark cloud, and then a Kokiri boy, clad in green, arose…

But he was losing his focus.

"Go back to sleep," Sheik said. "It's only around two in the morning."

Link obeyed, and Sheik curled an arm around his shoulders, Link's head a not uncomfortable weight on his chest. Funny, he _was_ like a little kid after all in a few senses. His body had matured, and so had his mind, but his spirit… the natural tendencies of a child to obey their elders… remained.

* * *

There was that same old wooden ceiling again, Sheik thought. He'd seen it often from a mattress on the floor, but never from the viewpoint of Impa's bed. Hey, how had he gotten here, anyways? And what was this on his chest—

Oh, right. Link.

A kind of delicious warmth ran through his veins. Link had one arm thrown over his chest and his nose buried in Sheik's left side, like an almost-hug-but-not-quite. Eh, he'd probably have kinks in his neck if he slept that way any longer. Sheik smiled, despite himself, and arranged Link on the other side of the bed before rising. He was wearing his pants, and in a moment he had on his Sheikah top and gloves, wound. He still didn't have a weapon. Ganon had taken those. He missed his wristblades—those had been specially tailored to him, one of the rare gifts from his mother he'd received. Too bad. He never grew attatched to physical objects; they could always be taken away, he'd remind himself.

"Going out?"

"To see the damage on the village. If Impa's not here, then I guess I'm the head authority."

"Ah. I guess I'll.." he paused. "I need to get into the Shadow Temple today."

"Go ahead. I'll see you afterwards," Sheik said. He'd know where to find Link. He always did.

He suddenly felt a weight pressing against him from behind. "So does this mean you're going to disappear again?"

Sheik considered. "Even if I wanted to, I don't think I could. We're friends now—more than that."

He could feel Link's sigh of relief, though he couldn't hear it. "Then I'll go, too, and see you when I defeat whatever's inside the temple."

They hadn't been able to see it before. Bongo Bongo was a strong demon if it could even hide its physical appearance from mortals. What kind of magic was it using? It wasn't so different from Sheik's own, but he couldn't understand it. He only wished Link good luck and then moved out into the town square.

"Ah! Mister Sheikah!" And so it went. A woman bustled up to him, carrying her two children. "What're we goin' to do about the lower part of the village? The houses were made of stone, so I don't think they're very damaged, but the roofs took some damage, and we need protection from the rain…"

"I'll fix it," Sheik said, and pinched his face-mask higher. It would be a long day.

* * *

After six straight hours of casting thatch spell after thatch spell (he really wasn't cut out for construction work; too tedious, and too many parameters. Magic was just so much easier…) he heard a new complaint.

Three men came over. One of them he recognized as the burly man from the shooting gallery: that, at least, hadn't caught fire. "Ey, misser' Sheikah!" they prompted, and he dropped down off the roof silently in front of them. They jerked, obviously not expecting him so quickly, but he folded his arms and they continued.

"The well's gone dry!"

Sheik looked at the one who'd spoken oddly. "…That's impossible." There was nothing at the bottom of that well but dust and rock. Where would water go?"

"No. Come see fer yerself." The three of them led on and he stood on the edge of the well, looked down into its depths. It was true. The well was dry.

What could have done this?

"Hey, Sheik!" A voice prompted from behind him. He turned around: Link. Why wasn't he in the temple? What was he doing still in the village? He'd seen him walking up towards the entrance to the graveyard earlier, but…

Link rummaged around in his cloak and produced something then. A purplish mechanism that resembled a magnifying glass, with a red eye in the center and reddish eyelashes on top, making it look like an enormous bloodshot eye socket. "What _is _that?" Sheik asked, his attentions diverted from the well for the moment.

"The Lens of Truth," He said proudly. "With this I can look at that demon from the well. It was inscribed on the opening to the Shadow Temple, just inside the main hallway. I wonder why no-one's found it before?" he pushed the thing back into his cloak.

Well, probably because no mortal could enter the temple, save for a Sage. Which reminded him; how was Impa getting along?

He looked to the side to see that all the men were on their knees. Link had noticed, too. He gave them a funny look: "Get up. I'm not worth bowing for," he said.

"Hero of Time," they murmured, but obeyed. Sheik chuckled under his breath.

Link tugged on his shoulder and pulled him around the side of the windmill, just between the hag's potion shop and the top of the stone staircase. "I went back in time, Sheik!" he explained excitedly, and secretively. "I went to the pedestal in the Temple and put the Master Sword back in and… well, I was little again." He shrugged.

Rain began to fall all over the village, lightly at first and sprinkling, then turning into a drizzle and then a medium downpour, though it wasn't anything strong. Good thing Sheik had gotten almost all the roofs finished by now. The village would be fine.

Sheik had known about the time traveling ability of the sword. Why hadn't he ever thought to tell Link before? "What did you do? Did you drain the well?"

Link nodded. "I kinda went crazy when I got back to Kakariko. Everyone was… everything was like it used to be, before Ganon came and…" he paused. "Well, I went to the windmill. This fellow taught me a song to make the rain fall, like you did when the village was on fire, so I played it, and the well drained." He shrugged. "And that's where I found this."

Sheik folded his arms. "So you've been delayed in going to the temple almost a full day?"

"I needed this to see anything inside," Link said with another shrug. "It was all invisible. I'll go soon."

"Soon." Sheik raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, soon. I want to be here tonight. I want to have a bit of a vacation before I plunge off into some new horror. Is that all-right?" there was a slight hint of accusatory in his voice, and the Sheikah frowned.

"What, you don't want me to be here tonight?" He asked, looking at Sheik's impassive face. "Something wrong?"

"No," Sheik said. "Not at all. I just.. have a bad feeling. That's all. I feel like tonight's going to be dangerous." He brushed a strand of wet hair out of his red eyes.

"So you weren't considering disappearing again and leaving me to fend?"

They looked at each other tensely. Sheik pulled Link into a full embrace, and then kissed him. Ah, it felt so good, so right! What more did he need but this?... The only warmth was between them, the cold surrounding them, and the feeling was ethereal. Link's arm dropped to creep around the Sheikah's waist, and as they pulled apart for air, Link grinned. "I'll take that as a no."

"I have work to do—I'll see you at Impa's house tonight if you're delaying another day."

Who knew what tonight would bring? There was a coiling in Sheik's stomach, and not just from the cold of the rain, nor the lingering feel of a mouth on his, like a promise half-remembered. This was something else.

* * *

_"Get them all ready," The Lizalfos commander ordered. It was a motley assortment of creatures: Skeleton warriors, the lizalfos, several enormous skultulas, and even a rogue human or two. All in all there were fifteen of them, plus the commander._

_"Tonight?" The commander asked his companion, a continuation of their previous conversation._

_"Yes. The rain will hide the moon."_

_"Good."_


	9. Chapter 9

"Mm. I love you."

The Sheikah had on no facemask, no shirt. The both of them had somehow become entwined in the sheets and in each other, and it was Sheik who had spoken.

Link beamed. "I love you too." He stole Sheik's lips in a kiss, pressing his tongue between the seam of pink mouth, his hands roving freely over the body that was forbidden to everyone else in Hyrule.

Sheik was still coming to terms with the fact that he'd fucked the Hero of Time. Three times now. Was that a sin or a record?

But this was all-right. It felt so good, and if both of them were happy, couldn't it work out? Couldn't it last? He didn't want this to stop anytime soon. If Link had died before in a temple, he'd have been devastated, but if he died now, Sheik didn't think he'd be able to live. This was the love Sheikah were warned against, the love that had dwindled their population until only two hundred or so Sheikah remained in all of Hyrule. It was a demanding, sinuous emotion, and it had trapped him.

He twined one hand in Link's hair and the other around his hips as they kissed, bringing them closer to each other, as close as possible, until it was one form instead of two. One body, one soul. There was such a poetic ring to it, and it sounded so lame, and so cliché, but it was so true.

* * *

"Link." Sheik nudged his shoulder and then returned to his position at the window, looking through warily, his eyes narrowed to glittering red slits. He was fully dressed in a moment and waited, clenching his fists against the windowsill as he heard Link pulling on his tunic behind him, and then his boots and finally sword and bow.

"What is it?" Link dared to ask in the stretching silence.

Sheik pointed. A group of shadows crept through the rainfall, crouched low to the ground, all of a variety of shapes and sizes. These were no travelers passing through. They were creatures of a dark form; of that, Sheik was sure. He'd seen enough Lizalfos in his lifetime to know that the leader was one, and so was half the group, but there was more than that. Satalfos warriors, bony hands clutching scimitars and their rotted flesh stringing off them in gangrenous peels, grunted softly with each step.

They were coming closer.

"My Gods, what are they doing here?"

"Link," Sheik said, "Get out of here. Go around the backside and hide in the crevice in the wall atop the cuckoo pen. I'll find you in twenty minutes."

"I'll be damned if you think I'm going to let you fight these things by yourself," Link replied, an edge of steel to his voice. Sheik glanced at him in the cold, vague light that filtered through the window, for the fire had long gone out and the embers were dead. His profile had a serenity to it that he had seen the Hylian don before. He was ready to fight.

"I am dispensable. You are not. If you die, then all of Hyrule is doomed. If I die, there will always be more Sheikah." It was hard to say, but needed to be said.

"If you die, then I die, too," Link said. "Friends in battle, no?"

He clenched his hands tighter around the Master Sword. Sheik pressed a hand to his mask and watched the company of creatures make their way across the main courtyard, to the base of the ledge that separated Impa's house from Kakariko—

--and vanish entirely.

"Let's go. Grab your pack," Sheik said, and Link needed no more prompting. They ducked out a back window onto the slope behind the house, and Sheik led the way, stealthily moving amongst the bushes as if it were second nature to him. And it was.

There was a roaring noise and he heard something that sounded like the front door being barred down, and then crashing noises and irritated, inhuman yells. It was an eerie noise in the calm of night, when everything should have been at peace. The rain still fell, and in moments they were drenched.

Sheik cast an invisibility spell around them both, the strongest one he could manage without collapsing or being weakened, and they paused.

"Search the village," came the command from inside.

Sheik froze, then half-dragged Link along behind him as he sprinted along the hillside, low to the ground so that none would see him. The underbrush clung to his limbs as if claws reaching from the grave, but he ignored any pain, steadily making a path through. He could hear a chorus of cries from Impa's house: The creatures had found their tracks. Link's, really. Sheik made no tracks.

"There they are! On the hillside!" Apparently they, too, had some kind of magical appendage. They could see right through his invisibility spell. Sheik dispelled the casting and turned to Link; there was no use in wasting energy keeping it up in present circumstances.

"We need to divert," Sheik said. "Give me your fire tunic."

"What?" Link was wearing the Zora tunic at the moment, and Sheik delved into Link's pack and dragged out the cloth garment, donning it quickly. Now he looked somewhat like Link; from a distance it would be hard to tell unless one managed to catch the glint of his red eyes. They were both blonde, and about the same height and build after all.

"You go to the graveyard. I'll make it around the windmill and meet you in half an hour. If I'm not back by then, I've been killed or otherwise, and you need to go into the temple as planned. This is no time to fight, we'll not outnumber them. Do you understand?" Link looked shaken, his eyes wide and frightened. Sheik grabbed him around the shoulders and gave him a soft shake. "Link! Do you understand me? We don't have much time."

"I—yes, I understand."

Sheik kissed him then, short and sweet, and left him with a lingering touch before darting down the hill and across the courtyard. He paused at the well, both to make sure the creatures would see him and so that he could check that Link was doing as he was supposed to.

Link had obeyed, and he could see a steady figure moving down and across the hillside towards the graveyard, his head bent low.

The creatures did, in fact, catch sight of him, and gave a long unanimous roar as they sped towards him. Sheik made a big dramatic show of waving his arms and looking terrified for as long as he could delay, then sprinted off towards the ladder that led up to the backside of the windmill.

He had one foot on the third rung when he looked up: two lizalfos waited there, their fangs twisted up in a horrid mockery of a smile. Both of them jumped at the same time, and Sheik darted back, landed a kick on one and smashed in the skull of the other against the stone wall. He'd broken ribs; those two wouldn't be up anytime soon, even if the second one was still alive. Time for a change of plan.

He ran up to the second tier of the village, above the courtyard. There was a watchtower there, and he hit the ladder of it just as he looked around to see that two Stalfos warriors guarded the entrance to Death Mountain, while six more were behind him, cutting him off from the rest of the village. They formed a semicircle around him.

He was forced to climb, and so he did.

One caught ahold of his leg; he kicked out without thinking and heard the sickening _thwuck _of a body hitting the ground. There were humans in the group, too. Had he killed one of them? Not that that held any kind of moral significance to Sheik. They were enemies and would die whether it was right or wrong.

He made it to the top. Now they could only climb in single file to reach him.

A lizalfos came first; he kicked it off. Another came and he smashed his boot into its face, but another leapt up right behind it, catching hold of his ankle and dragging itself up to the platform, then helping two more onto the small watchtower as well. There were humans after that, burly kinds of men, and Sheik lashed out like a caged and wounded animal, knocking the lizalfos off and smashing one of the men into the side. He sank to the ground, unconscious, or worse.

He'd have to make a jump. There was no telling if he could make it, but he had to try.

Ten of the original sixteen of the party remained. He'd kept count. That left more than he could handle on his own. In a suicidal (and momentary) decision he leapt onto the balustrade of the tower, balancing precariously on the edge, and dropped to the underside of the tower, clinging onto the wooden underside, then going hand-over-hand down the support opposite the ladder. Nothing could reach him and he could climb safely down, unless…

They gathered at the base.

Shit. What now?

He'd have to fight.

He made no noise, only stood facing them sideways so as to be a smaller target. None of them carried ranged weapons, which was good. Or maybe he'd just disposed of the ones who had. Some bared knives or swords or scimitars, raised them, made ready to fight.

They were reluctant to approach him.

Finally one rushed at him. The others merely watched as he unarmed the skeleton warrior, snapped off its arm in one quick blow and then cracked its neck in half. Without its head it was powerless, and it fell dead to the ground.

This seemed to excite the others. Three more ran at him while the remaining six stayed behind; these were a human and two stalfos skeleton warriors.

He could take three armed opponents at once. One came for him with his dagger and he plucked it out of his outstretched hand, stabbing him in the heart and then arcing to slice the jugular (or where the jugular would be; he simply cut through the spinal cord) of the other in one fluid motion. A switch of the feet, a shift of the hands; it really was like a kind of sick, barbaric dance.

The third stalfos and Sheik exchanged blows, neither wanting to move in further. Finally Sheik made as if he were going to stab the skeleton in the ribs and twist out a few and then pulled a fake, using his other hand to sever this one's neck as well.

"You cannot win against six of us," a lizalfos said, presumably the leader, and all six of them rushed in at once.

Sheik was beginning to tire. He kicked out at the legs of one and connected with someone's skull with his fist before he was grabbed about the waist and then the legs. He struggled madly; NO! They wouldn't kill him. He had to meet Link, he had to meet Link, he had to help Link, he had to…

He twisted out of one's grip and brought him down with a sweep of a dagger, but then his arm was caught and jerked. He could feel his wrist snap, the bone crunching at the ends, as it was twisted wildly, and he screamed from pain as he fell to his knees and was grabbed up again and hefted by the collar by a few lizalfos. One of them conjured a witchlight, a floating ball of luminescence, and held it up to his face. This one was the leader.

"Is it the Hero?"

One of the humans came forth. Sheik recognized him as one of the guards who had tortured him before during his… stay.. in Ganon's castle.

"No. It's the Sheikah."

"Where is Impa?" the lizalfos seethed, pressing a knife to Sheik's throat. Sheik gave a tired grin, showing teeth. "Dead. Went to the Shadow Temple and didn't come back," he replied. Well, it was a half-truth.

One of them struck him across the face and he felt his lip split, blood and muck running down his chin. The area underneath his eye began to swell up.

"Lies," it hissed. "The Great Impa would not die so easily."

Another came up and set a heavy hand on the shoulders of the one who was interrogating him. "Do not wound him yet. The _Kazed-ha _has ordered otherwise."

Sheik suddenly twisted out of both their grasps, and threw off a third. Yes, he was free! If only he could make it out of the group then he could get to the windmill and—

He was struck over the head with the flat of someone's sword. His vision crossed and then uncrossed and became blurred. A haze of red descended, as before, and he could see nothing but a hand coming up and supporting him, and then he couldn't tell if the blackness was his own or if it was of many claws and hands covering his eyes.

* * *

The leader of the party spat into the ground. "How many?" he asked his second-in-command in Lizalfian.

"Eleven."

"_Gesth-dakt_," the first swore in their mother tongue. "Have the two lizalfos who are left tie him and drug him to make sure he sleeps. We have a long way to go."

"How did the Dark King know he would be here?"

"He knows more than you or I ever could," the first replied, and turned away.

"One Sheikah took down so many of us?" One of the humans asked a lizalfos, crouching at the head of the blonde Sheikah. Sheik's eyes were half-closed, unseeing, and he may have had a concussion, but the job had been done. Their orders to capture the Sheikah had been carried through.

"We did not even manage to find the Hero of Time," the lizalfos said, clearly irritated. "Only half of our orders have been completed."

"I dare not go into the Shadow Temple to follow him. Not for all the gold the _Kazed-ha_ can give me." The human bundled a heavy cloak around Sheik and then produced a vial of a greenish fluid, uncorking it and coaxing it down Sheik's throat. A sleeping drug, perhaps a stronger one than was necessary. But the Dark King had wanted him weakened, and this was the easiest way to do it.

"And I as well," the lizalfos replied, watching this procedure, then helping the first mount his horse and lift Sheik up in front of him, a bundle held like a sleeping child. "Perhaps the Sheikah sacrificed himself as a diversion from the Hero's escaping…?" he suggested then. It had been nagging at his mind for the past hour.

"It is possible," the human replied, and they began the long ride.


	10. Chapter 10

Answers to questions:

Yeeees, Sheik and Link will end up together. Just how? I can't tell that. It ruins the PLOT, PEOPLE. THE PLOT! (strikes pose)

(>> Yes, I realize sex fics have very little plot. Stfunoobokthx.)

As to the Malon lovers. No. Malon will not be in this fic.Sorry. Maybe I'll do a Malink one day? And yes, I cut Navi out of there too. I hate Navi. So. Annoying. In the game.

Nabooru -will- be in this fic. I'm following the storyline as best I can!

Posting on Suteki, of course, motivates me to write faster. So does reviewing here, but I'm not askin' for that. If you like me enough to feed me motivation, by all means. ;)

FOUR CHAPTERS in two days. Come on. That's gotta be a record, no? Let's hope I can keep this up and actually finish this thing.

* * *

Again with the dreams, again with the nightmares. Did this sort of thing never end? Would he never manage to piece his sanity together? It felt as if he were trying to gather himself up to say something, but the little pieces kept flying back apart and slipping through his fingers and mind as if they were sieves. He couldn't remember who he was or where he was going, only that he needed to do something, and that it was important. 

Was he in a healing hall somewhere? The dull fire of pain in his lip and back of his head had faded into nothing and were gone. The thud of his heart could no longer be heard in his ears, and only his wrist seemed to be injured. He was underneath something warm--a blanket, maybe, and he had on no clothing, another sign that he was being healed, maybe.

But when he opened his eyes, he knew just where he was. It came in a snap of cold, painstricken realization.

"Running away from me doesn't happen very often." Ganon, the king of the Gerudos, the Dark King of Hyrule and current presiding overlord of all that existed in the land, sat on the edge of his bed, wearing a crimson dressing gown.

Wait, _bed? _Not torture chamber? What was this?

Yes. A real, honest-to-gods bed. He was lying on some kind of four-poster bed, and completely un-tied. His head swam, his eyes watered. He probably looked like something dragged through Hell and then revived over brimstone. He felt like it. He moved a little to release the push of the blankets on his wrist, found it was still shattered and that he couldn't even make his hand move up and down. It _hurt, damnit, _and he'd broken bones before but never something that hurt this bad.

His first instinct was to sprint away, anywhere. But he couldn't. Ganon would be on him in an instant. He forced the bubble of panic down into his chest and spoke.

"I got lucky," Sheik said, his voice nothing more than a hoarse whisper.His stomach flipped over, and was then stabbed through with a jolt of fear, as if fear were something tangible and sharp and really had driven all the way through him, like spearing a helpless fish. Because that's what he was. Helpless. It didn't matter if he was untied. He was as much as prisoner as he'd been last time.

A quick scan of the room revealed a large oaken door, and a curtained way that led to the inner workings of a bath chamber. In this room was simply the bed itself and an ottoman before that, and no windows. Well, even if there had been windows, the view wouldn't have been spectacular. Lava and all that.

Still trying to be cocky even when his situation was dire; yes, that was his way. Ganon's mouth twitched in an almost-smile, and he turned to the corner of the bed, laying one long-fingered hand around a post, palm curling against the wood. "No. I was negligent. One of my guards caught sight of you in that cell and didn't give it a second thought until you'd disappeared. "

Sheik thought back to the Zora male who'd given him that Farore's Wind pendant. What had become of him?

As if Ganon could read his mind, his mouth really did curl. "That Zora screamed beautifully."

Sheik shivered.

"What, no response? Not even a scarring word?" a hand came down to clasp his chin underneath a curled finger and lift his head. Bright eyes burned into his own, but he refused to look away, and merely answered: "You're a sadistic bastard. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Ganon laughed. He really actually laughed. Such a horrid sound. "Yes. It does wonders for my ego."

Sheik considered accusing him of pedophilicy as well, but then again he was eighteen now and not a child anymore. So that was null. He shook his head unfeelingly; it was as if he was already retreating into his own mind, as if his body knew what was going to happen and was preparing itself, hibernating in a sense. "What is this place?"

"This is my quarters. After last time, I think it's better if I keep a... shall we say, personal? Eye on you. There are seventeen locks on that door, each of which has a different password and is impervious to magic. There are no weapons here, and anything that might be used as one is charmed so as only I can pick it up. There are three meters of diamond-layered concrete between each wall and any cells adjacent to it. No guards are allowed here, and only Gerudo women, entirely loyal to me and wearing watch sigils. Should they leave their own adjoining quarters they will promptly combust into ashes." he grinned wickedly.

Sheik swallowed dryly, but held his gaze. Any hopes he'd had spontaneously combusted.

"Deterring those idiot patrollsmen so the Hero could make it to the temple was a bit of quick thinking," Ganon released his chin. Sheik edged to the opposite side of the bed warily, good arm braced against the mattress. "But stupid. You'll pay for that with your sanity."

Sheik couldn't help but take silent comfort, however small, in the fact that Link was safe. For the moment at least.

Ganon's smile turned into a bitter look. "He won't make it out, anyhow. I've made sure of that. Or rather, my demon has."

Sheik hissed curtly between his teeth, the only form of exhalation he could do without being in pain. "So you released that demon from the well in Kakariko."

"Yes."

"And you knew we were in the village."

"Yes. You see, I'm not done interrogating you just yet. You can't hide from a king."

"You're not a king. You killed a king. That makes you a murderer." Sheik spat the words, vile contempt bubbling up, mixed with hysteria that threatened to choke him, press every ounce of oxygen from him and leave him nothing more than a corpse.

"Ah, politics. You have so much to learn." Ganon was a presence at the foot of the bed, tall and dark and like a kind of twisted angel in a way. No, more a demon than an angel. He was something else entirely, a third category, damned from both heaven and hell for what he'd done to the land.

"And if I give you this information you need?"

"We'll see."

"You'll let me go?" Another choked swallow.

"No. But your alternative is worse."

"To withhold what I know? With all due respect, Ganon, fuck you. You're just one man. Nothing you can do to me could be worse than what you've already done." His voice was dark, flat, low. It carried a current of fear, like electricity, throughout itself. Could he do anything worse? There was always the possibility. But he had to play a bluff, pretend like he wasn't afraid, or none of his dignity could be salvaged.

There was a slow smile again, spreading across Ganon's face. "Quite the masochist, aren't you? That steel tongue is a turnoff. And you wouldn't be the first to say that."

Sheik shifted on the far side of the bed. What was he going to do now? Kill him? Torture him? Worse? It was frightening to see Ganon leering at him like that.

Sheik felt his eyelids going heavy. He'd fall asleep soon again; whatever kind of sleeping drug they'd given him it was working, damnitall. It made no sense, logically. His adrenaline ought to have been pumping, but it wasn't, and instead he just felt like he might collapse. His limbs were like iron almost, heavy and dense and useless, and he pushed himself to a sitting position with as much force as he could muster with his good arm.Ganon set one knee on the bed, eyebrow raising. Sheik wasn't used to seeing this side of Ganon, not even after what had already happened; the idea of Ganon as a sexual being was still alien to him. He backed up on the bed, aware that he had absolutely no clothes on still, and thathe was weak and lethargic.

Ganon moved slowly, felinelike, until Sheik's head bumped against the headboard and a wave of fire passed over his vision. He nearly passed out, but when he came round again found that Ganon was arched over him, one arm winding its way around him and the other moving for places it shouldn't.

"Not again," Sheik begged.

"I'll break you slowly," Ganon said as he bent forward and whispered it in Sheik's ear. "I'll do it so that you won't even know it's happened, and so that when I take what I need from you you'll give it to me without a fight."

Sheik groaned and closed his eyes as Ganon kissed him. He couldn't look into those eyes. He couldn't see that the face in front of him wasn't Link's. Link! Link… the name spiraled through his head like a mantra, like a motto, and all he could do was try and calm his rapid thoughts lest he fly away into a thousand pieces at the Dark King's touch.

He curled his knees up to his chest, pressing his arms against Ganon's chest through the dressing gown, and trying to heave him off. But it was no use. He was just too damn weak. Not to mention Ganon had at least a good foot of height on him and about fifty pounds of solid muscle. A hand parted through his knees and explored there, wandered where it felt so wrong, so awkward; he cringed and tried to twist away, but both wrists were caught and pinned atop his head without so much as a moment's pause. A moment later he heard a clanking noise, felt cold steel, a hard, irrepressible vise—

"Not this… Ganon, anything but this, please!" he was now handcuffed; his legs were pinned beneath him by Ganon's body, and he was shamed at this, even moreso as Ganon's hands roamed even more freely. His eyes were pain-filled, like an animal caught in a trap, but Ganon seemed to actually take pleasure in this. "Poor Sheik. Wonder what Impa would say? Maybe she'd rather you told me how to get into the Shadow Temple than suffer this."

"Do-n't use my n-ame," Sheik said, his voice a shell of its usual euphonious tone, breaking twice on words that would normally be easy to say.

"I'll do as I like."

Silently water pooled in his eye, and then another, until it ran down his cheeks in the form of tears. His vision was blurred. "Goddesses protect me," he said, almost mouthing the words. He wanted to be brave, wanted to be strong, but this was so much more than he could handle. He was terrified.

A hand clamped over his mouth, and the other hand continued its steady invasion of his personal space. "None of that from you. If your goddesses wanted to help you, they'd have done so already."

The guy had a pain fetish, that much was apparent. Sheik's last remark of distress was smothered in his throat by the lips that replaced the hand, even as Ganon continued to stroke him.Such a strange, musky flavor, almost as if there was some kind of sweetness to Ganon's breath.Sheik's bodywas becoming aroused now, but he continued to sob silently, a mix between euphoria and fear. He'd managed to keep his calm before, but now he couldn't hold it back.

"Shhh," Ganon said. "Just submit. You'll enjoy it if you let yourself."

More tears. A half-choked, angry sob from beneath the clamped hand. The terribly wonderful friction in his lower regions was growing and growing and soon he would be pushed over the edge. "Shh," Ganon said again in that smooth, almost calming voice, quieting him momentarily but certainly not dominating.

Whatever Ganon had on his lips, it was some kind of aphrodisiac. Sheik felt every nerve in his body awakening, supersensitive, his eyes clenched shut as his arms began to wring themselves against the handcuffs fruitlessly. His wrist, which was still broken, was caught on a part of the metal and he cringed with the pain, tried not to make any noise. His teeth clenched tightly. This time, when Ganon pushed his tongue into Sheik's mouth, he bit the invading appendage.

Blood was in his mouth; he spat it out and glared at Ganon as he retreated suddenly, drawing himself up to a full sitting position. But he didn't make any remark, merely glared and reciprocated, wiping the back of his mouth with one hand, and then striking Sheik hard across the face. Sheik saw stars for a moment before his head stopped floating.

He felt one knee press between his legs, forcing them apart. He felt two fingers sinuate between his own knees and into his cleft, covered in a kind of cold jelly. Featherlight. He knew what it was. He knew what it was going to mean, what this was a sign of… _This is not yours to control, this is not yours to be shamed of, you cannot control it. _The voice of reason whispered so quietly in the back of his mind it might as well have been an echo.

"You're beautiful, you know, as young men go," Ganon said softly before he took Sheik for the second time. It was rough and painful, and there was a coursing of fiery pleasure through his body intermingled with it, as before, and as Ganon continued totouch him all over. Ganon knew how to please his victims, that much was obvious, and that aphrodisiac was definitely working at his nerves. He strained against the bond, his body twisting and arching up as he exploded against Ganon's hand, then sagged weightlessly to the bed, not even knowing if Ganon orgasmed or not but feeling the dark king's weight as a lax presence on top of him. It was terrifying, to see this figure of power so vulnerable before him, and to know what he had done and what he had been a part of.

_This is not yours to control this is not yours to control this_

Presently Ganondorf stirred and raised his head up. "I can make this an easy process," he said, "Or a hard one. The choice is yours." His voice was like coarse gravel on Sheik's ears. "Either way in the end I will win and extract the information I need from your mind, with or without your consent. I expect you to look presentable when I next arrive. That, in case you Sheikah don't follow the common Hylian styles, means you are to bathe and dress appropriately."

He felt sick, nauseous, lying there curled up upon himself defensively, but these words penetrated his mind.

Bathe.

Dress.

What kind of sick game was Ganon playing? Was he a prisoner or wasn't he? These were not things offered to those who were in captivity; they were a luxury. Ganon caught the silent look in his eyes and merely gave another one of those knowing smirks. Damn him.

There was a reaching over his head, the sight of Ganon's navel in front of his face, and then a soft click and the handcuffs released. He was free. He curled against the headboard, dazed, and couldn't decide whether he ought to move or stay still, even when Ganon threw back on the dressing gown and strode out leisurely, as if he'd stopped in to have a cup of tea and a chat, thank you very much.

Sheik didn't move. He waited.

And waited. Not a single muscle moved, his arm cradled to his chest.

A few more minutes.

Silence.

After ten minutes and no return he slid off the bed and into the corner of the stone room, folding his knees to his chest and burying his head in his arms.

"I'm doing this for you, Link," he said to the empty room, to himself, to the walls and to the stone floors. Ganon might have broken others, he might have known all the psychological tricks in the book, but he wasn't going to break Sheik. Sheik had learned how to evade mental torture from Impa, how to remane sane even in the direst of circumstance. He would have to fall back on all his techniques to keep his own humanity now. Nothing and no-one could save him but himself. And if he had to take his own life, if he became so weak that he was a threat to Link and to the future of Hyrule, he would do it. Sheik was no coward.

"If I die," he whispered to the silence,"Forgive me."


	11. Chapter 11

Whoa, an attempt here to ACTUALLY PUT SOME PLOT IN.

Eeyup, I have a sick mind, don't I? But actually, the Ganon/Sheik is more to get all you people to pity Sheik. I figured there had to be a reason why Sheik would be doing the things he does against Ganon, not just because it's 'right' and all that stuff.

And Nasuerah is, actually, an NPC. Not an original character. So... uh... there.

* * *

He'd be damned, but he actually did what Ganon suggested. Or ordered, more like, but he didn't take orders from anyone, whether or not they'd just done things to him that kept him from sleeping.

There was a closet nearby. Upon opening it he found that there was merely an assortment of royal garments inside it in various shapes and sizes. Had Ganon just left the royal cabinets as they were? It appeared so. It didn't have any of the Dark King's clothes in it, in any case. So Sheik picked out the first thing he saw: A dull, rust-colored tunic that was embroidered with gold. He didn't pick it for its class, because it had none, and it was fairly plain, but it was easy to move around in.

Who knew when that might come in handy?

The trousers he donned as well silently and quickly. There was not a soul in the room besides him. He neither saw anyone nor heard anyone throughout the entire day, if it even _was _day; for all he knew it could've been the middle of the night. There weren't any windows. No light came through the crack underneath the massive door.

He had blood and Gods-know what else on him, but he was used to bleeding in large quantities. It was the pain that bothered him.

It was a hollow ache somewhere in his lower stomach. Internal tearing, he self-diagnosed himself, and possibly other stress-related problems. He now had a chance to look over his wrist, and did so: it had been mildly splinted and wrapped in some bandages, but not nearly enough.

He picked out the best cape he could find and tore it to tiny shreds with his teeth and his good arm, then used that to wrap it further. Screw the Royal Family, they'd left him to this fate because of their own stupidity. Screw Ganon. Screw all of them. It was up to him now to look out for himself.

He looked, and felt, like something half dead. His cheeks and face were probably bruised and cut. He knew he had a bump rising on his forehead. There was no mirror in the room for him to see, and he hadn't gotten to the bathroom yet.

But finally he did. If he was going to make some attempt at self preservation, he had to know the layout of the room, though it pained him to walk and even more to turn his head. It was more than painful—it was excruciating.

Through a small curtained archway was a marble-covered bath. Upon entering he looked around: There was no sign of anyone. Good. Up to the ceiling then: it was decorated with Greater Fairies, each one holding a weapon of some sort, and adorned with triforces. Some were in flight, some were calling out; it seemed to be a battle scene of some kind, perhaps from the Great Wars that had taken place so long ago. Ganon had left this, too. Only the Hylian King would have ordered so ostentatious a creation.

He slipped into the shadows at a slight noise, the unlatching of a door.

It was a Gerudo girl. This one was dressed in the normal warm-weather attire, little more than a bustier over a semiopaque pair of loose pants, and slippers upon her dainty feet. Her red hair curled over narrow shoulders and down to her waist. Her skin was brown and tanned, and her eyes were black, and bright as well.

He couldn't use his cloaking magic. He was too weak.

After her came six more of the same attire, each slightly different in appearance but no less lovely. They paused, seeming to look around, but the leader girl saw him at once and struck a low curtsy. The rest of them followed suit. Sheik clutched at his shoulder with his good arm and stared at them, waiting cautiously to see if they would attack or do otherwise.

"Master Sheikah," the leader girl said in a voice like water, "I am Nasuerah. These are my assistants, Tayla, Sharei, Keisoro, Neika, Manae, and Nabool."

Na-sway-ruh. A strange name. Sheik gave a stiff nod of his head, which might have been a small bow under other circumstances, but he was too weak to be bothered with courtesy right now.

"We're here to attend on you."

"I don't wish to be attended on," he said gruffly. He didn't trust them. He much preferred to bathe and dress himself, thank-you-very-much.

"He wouldn't like that," she said, folding her hands into a steeple. There was no question about who 'he' might be. They all knew.

"I'm not here to do as He likes."

"It would be in your best interest." She gave a small motion of her hand and the one called Neika went to the enormous bath in the center of the room. She made some kind of signal in the air and water poured seemingly from nowhere, warm and steaming. All kinds of things were assorted around the sides of the bath. Sheik didn't want to know what they were; he half feared finding out.

"I… thank you for caring," he said, still stiffly, "But I'm quite fine."

Her eyes glittered. "If he discovers we have not done his bidding, we will all be punished," she said slowly, "But I will ask nothing from you but your silence if you do not wish for us to assist with your bathing."

_Assist with your bathing. _Now there was an unfamiliar term. "I swear by my honor as a Sheikah and as a man," he said firmly. Anything to get them out of there. The bath, despite it being located in the bedroom of his dire enemy, looked more inviting than anything he'd seen in a long time.

"That is a good thing to swear by," she said, and they all turned. "You may reach me by the bell at any time."

There was a golden pullstring on the wall, which he assumed led to the bell, and so he nodded. With that they left, and he didn't bother to hear the door close before stripping and slipping into the giant tub. Ahhh, bliss. Utter, utter bliss and nothing else could fill his mind. His various pains and aches diminished in the warmth and no matter how much blood and disgusting… fluids… he washed off himself, the water never seemed to dirty.

He didn't use anything on the sides of the tub, though none of the various bottles looked as if they'd even been touched. He had a sneaking suspicion they'd been laid out just for him, maybe, but he couldn't be sure and he wouldn't use them even if they were. Ganon was the kind of guy who'd find it hilarious if Sheik mysteriously went bald or caught his scalp on fire.

Sheik took one of the towels on the side of the bath and dried himself off in a matter of seconds: when he finished he was red all over but very clean. Who knew when Ganon would be back? There wasn't a chance in hell he'd be caught in such a vulnerable state when that sick freak decided to appear again.

He carefully folded the towel and set it right back where it had been originally. He didn't know what else to do with it. Throw it on the floor? Into the bath? No, both of those seemed wrong. This place seemed to make you want to be neat, anyways. He dressed and then walked back into the main room, looking for somewhere out of the way so that he could see Ganon before Ganon could see him if he arrived. There! Against the cabinet. He'd be mildly out of the way there.

And so he sat. And waited.

And waited.

* * *

"Ai, he's so _handsome, _Neika exclaimed back in the servant's room that adjoined the main one. "I love watching the prisoners He brings in this room."

"Well, it's the only entertainment we get," Tayla said, sounding angry. "We're locked inside. Kitchen here, bedrooms there, sitting-room over there… and then the door into His bathroom. Our world is contained in this small space, is it not?"

"It is safer than being outside," Nasuerah said gently, her black eyes wide and thoughtful. She was the wise one of the group, though she was only sixteen. "We have never been tortured or killed, not one of us."

"Because we are Gerudo," Neika said. "We are the King's brethren. And I think he finds me attractive." She twined her arms seductively about herself and winked at Nasuerah. "Though I'd like to have that one in my bed even more." She jerked her chin towards the door that led to Ganondorf's bedroom, pressing her lips together.

"Hush," said Nasuerah sharply. "The Sheikah take only their own kind as partners. Surely you know that?"

"Well, there was that one Sheikah a while back who took that Hylian man as her husband, wasn't there?" said Sharei, who was twenty-seven years old and remembered. "It was a big scandal. I don't remember what became of the son, though."

"_It doesn't matter,"_ said Nasuerah. "_None of you_ will attempt to seduce him on my watch. Is that clear?"

They all scowled.

"What if _he _tries to seduce _us? _" one of them suggested.

Nasuerah stared at her. "Yes, and hell will freeze over, maybe. I am going to bring the poor young man some food. He looked half-starved to me." She went to the kitchen, leaving the rest of the slave girls to talk amongst themselves in heavy tones.

* * *

Sheik's eyes slid to the side as someone approached his peripheral vision, and he silently got to his feet, leaning into the cabinet so they wouldn't be able to see him. He was quiet as a cat. No sound of feet on stone, or arm bracing against the wall.

"Master Sheikah," came a calm voice. One of the slave girls.

What was her name? Nah-sway-ruh. Nasuerah. Right, he remembered.

He showed himself, stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the room, provided by dancing candleflames and one center chandelier. Nasuerah had a tray in hand, heaped with all kinds of delicacies such as he'd never seen in his life. She gave a half-curtsy and approached him slowly, as if afraid he might lash out and kill her.

"I thought perhaps… you might wish food," she said.

"… Thanks," Sheik said, taking the tray from her and seating himself cross-legged on the stone floor. There were no chairs, nor tables.

"What is your name?" Nasuerah asked him, staring directly at him with those black eyes. He didn't like the weight of her stare, but he didn't say anything. She was just a girl. Younger than him. "Sheik," he replied.

"Ah, Sheik the Sheikah," she said, and a faint smile came to her lips. "A fitting name."

"Yes, it was my father's idea," he said, not knowing why he was even telling her this. "My mother wanted to call me Kaepora Gaebora. This was preferable."

"Kaepora? As in… the ancient sage?"

"Yes."

He still looked at the food. "It is all-right to eat," she said, trying to urge him into it. Sheik didn't know how to reply to that. He had secret suspicions that the food might possibly be—

"It is not drugged," she added. "If Ganon used drugs in his food, it would mean much more trouble for us all than he already gives us."

Nevermind. He ate. He caught a flash of red at the edge of his vision and turned his head. All the other slave girls were behind the door of the bathroom, and soft giggling could be heard.

"…Are they hiding, or something?" he asked.

Nasuerah turned her head. "No. They are merely stupid girls. They have not shared the bed of a man in far too long and never with someone as handsome as you. But they are harmless. They will not talk to you."

"Why not?" he wanted to know.

"Because it is forbidden," she said, sounding shocked.

"Why?"

"You…" she rubbed her temples. "The Dark King considers his prisoners to be his property. Only he is allowed to speak to them, and me, because that is my job."

There was a silence. He finished what was on the tray, his hunger satiated for now, and she took it without any sound. But after she returned she sat back down in a rustle of garments, and asked.

"Why are you here, his personal prisoner? It is both a blessing and a curse."

"You're asking me why he wants me all the way up here instead of in one of those dingy cells down there?"

"Yes."

He told her everything. Well, everything but the night he and Link had shared. That was something different, something special, and he couldn't talk about that to her. But he felt like he could trust her. Something in her eyes, maybe. By the end of the story those same eyes were alight with hope, her cheeks rosy and a smile apparent on her small, expressive mouth.

"That is wonderful!" she said. "Maybe—" she looked around conspiratorially, then leaned forward. "Maybe we will all go home soon, no?"

Sheik lowered his eyes. And then he decided to confide in her. "Do you know any way out of the palace?"

"Out of the palace!" she looked even more shocked. "But that's impossible! He's sealed every way out. If there was one, we'd have found it. You're a prisoner, like us, but you'll see it's not so bad if you give into what he wants. After a while you kind of…" she fluttered her hands. "Forget."

Sheik crossed his legs. "I don't want to forget," he said. "He's not going to get to me."

There was a fastening sound at the door, and the sound of many bolts being slid out all of a sudden. Nasuerah jumped to her feet, whisked his tray up, and bolted out the door towards the slave quarters. Sheik stood as well, clasping his bad wrist with his good arm and looking at the door warily.

It opened. In walked Ganon; Sheik did not shrink away from the advancing form, even as he backed into the edge of the bed he and Nasuerah had been sitting next to. His knees almost buckled, but he held strong, unwavering, stared Ganon straight in the eye.

"Ah, my Sheikah. I see you were smart enough to do as I commanded." He took Sheik's chin in his hand, turned it up to the light, examined the fine bones of his face and his pale skin, which had taken on a kind of luminescence of its own. Though the bruises of the previous rape remained.

"I'm not 'your' anything."

He anticipated the blow, ducked, came back to a standing position. A hand came up and grabbed the front of his shirt. He was not so much smaller than Ganon that the Gerudo could lift him into the air, but he was pulled forward, then shoved onto the bed, and went sprawling back, his knees folding beneath him even as he rolled to the side to try and get away, and was pinned by one arm. He didn't know where he would go if he had gotten away. The other corner of the room? Yeah, right. Real smart.

"Unfortunately, you are." Ganon's eyes shone dangerously. Like a predator. He put out one hand and slid the tunic off the side of Sheik's shoulder.

* * *

"He does not scream," Neika said to Nasuerah as they sat in the anteroom of the slave girl chambers. "And he does not cry; he isn't begging, either." They both knew what Ganon was doing to Sheik in the adjacent room.

"He is a Sheikah," Nasuerah replied, as if that explained everything. But silently she folded her hands in her lap. She normally didn't care for anyone Ganon brought into his personal bedchambers, but this was different.

She _had _drugged Sheik's food. She'd had no choice.

_Ganon had forced the packet into her hands. "Slip some in every day," he'd commanded. _

_"I must know what it is, Master, so that I can know how much to put." _

_"It makes one susceptible to mind-reading magic. Just a pinch every day. Force it down his throat if you have to, but make sure he takes it, one way or another. And be kind to him, earn his trust. It will make it all the sweeter when he is broken."_

And then he'd left. Nasuerah sat now on the small couch, her head bent, her black eyes scanning the backs of her hands as she heard the sound of the Dark King's muted laughter drift through the walls, low and dangerous.

"I had to do it," she whispered to herself, fists clenching.

"What?" Neika asked.

"Nothing," Nasuerah said loudly. "Nothing at all."


	12. Chapter 12

SO I FINALLY GOT AROUND TO UPDATING. School's ending and finals are happening and it's been insane, so I stole a bit of time to get in the mood to write this fanfic. Hmm, this one's drawing to a close, kinda... I wonder what else I should write when this one's finished? Maybe I'll do an Inuyasha.

And thanks to everyone who's ranted/complemented me at Suteki, and also all of you who just like to email rather than write your comments. Oo One little fanfic and the love just pours in. No wonder people publish their work online.

'Specially Misty, Nash, Shay, Kira, and MiroxSango. Love you guys. 3

* * *

There was only the sound of breathing: a gentle, fluid sound that didn't continue and didn't end. Thankfully, it didn't end. He was counting before he really was aware that he was counting. It was a Sheikah trick: remember each breath and when you get to fifty, pull yourself together.

Thirty-seven. Eight. Nine.

He was dreaming shallowly. He could see himself talking to Link somewhere, far away, standing in a sunny grove with his arms folded like usual and his cowl pulled down (again, like usual) and everything seemed normal.

Dark clouds rolled in on the horizons, began to pour rain on the both of them.

Forty five. Six. Seven.

_This is what Zelda meant. This was what she was talking about: so the dream was real? Is any of this real? Am I… alive?_

He saw the Gerudo fortress quite suddenly, and it seemed like he was floating above it. All of a sudden he saw Link walk up to the gate, speak with the guards.

In a moment he was shot through with arrows, shafts sticking from each end of his body, his heart's blood spurting out of arteries in quick jets of crimson mixing with the sand…

Forty eight.

His eyes, full of pain, searched for someone familiar as he fell to his knees and lay there in the sand bleeding…

Forty nine. Fifty.

Sheik opened his eyes. Link would be going to the Spirit temple soon, and he wouldn't be able to get in. The Gerudo wouldn't let him. He wouldn't know what to do. What if they killed him outright? Sheik hadn't warned him, and it would be his fault, his fault…

"How are you feeling?" It was that slave-girl. What was her—oh, right, Nasuerah. Bit hard for his tongue to pronounce at the moment since it felt sort of thick, and his mouth wouldn't form any words of its own. Every thought stopped at the corner of his mind. He felt hard-limbed, heavy, dense. So he merely settled for a shake of his head… the universal sign for _I feel like shit._

He leaned himself up on one elbow. Someone had covered him with a large blanket and then left him there on the top of Ganon's bed. Or had the coverlet simply been pulled over and folded twice? Well, he didn't know, and he wasn't paying much attention to details at the moment. He felt all foggy-headed.

"Would you like a glass of… water?" She asked then. Her black eyes were sharp, apologetic. _Why apologize? That's the look of a guilty person, _Sheik told himself. But then maybe it was just sympathy. But he didn't want that.

He nodded again. She rose without a noise, disappeared, came back with a goblet full of water. He studied it for a moment: How gaudy, how garish! But that was all he would manage because he drank it down as if it were like nothing he'd ever tasted.

There was a tang to the water but maybe it was just his imagination.

Now he could speak. "A… a mirror?" he asked slowly, trying out his voice, proud when he succeeded that much without so much as a quiver. She complied instantly and brought him a small hand-mirror. He looked at it with an unreadable expression.

His face was swollen on one side from some kind of bruise: yes, completely black down one side, but this was the worst of it and it would stop swelling and reduce by tomorrow. How long had he been sleeping? Eh, well, didn't matter. He was lucky he hadn't broken anything but his wrist, which was still completely useless, though as he examined his shoulders and chest he found numerous crusted-over cuts and scabs.

And there were hand-grip marks on his upper arms. How embarrassing.

After a moment when it was completely clear he wasn't going to make any conversation on his own, Nasuerah rose and left.

"Ring the bell if you need anything," she added before disappearing.

He dressed himself then in the same clothing. He didn't care anymore. He felt numb inside, the same static that was threatening to completely consume his mind and leave him nothing more than a husk without a soul. Eventually he moved over to the side of the room and let it consume him, let it throw him back into a shallow world of nightmares.

He slept. Troubled dreams, but sleep all the same.

* * *

She stared at the empty glass of water, back in the slave quarters. It was laughing at her almost, if physical objects could laugh. She could actually see the powder that hadn't been completely dissolved crusting on the bottom of the glass. 

"Ai, is that it?" Tayla prompted, slinking in from somewhere. "The poison?"

"It's not _poison,_" Nasuerah hissed. "It is a… a relaxant."

"And what's the King using it for, I wonder? Hmmm?" Tayla asked.

"I don't know, I don't know. Don't you have work to do?"

"Perhaps. I'm getting dressed before I go out there, though…" she was already wearing a top that was far more low cut than usual, revealing her tiny waist and ample breasts, paying compliment to the swell of her hips. Her dark, liquid eyes were lined with golden kohl and her lips were painted seductively, glistening in the light that the dim slave-quarters offered.

"You are a whore," Nasuerah said, disgusted.

"I love you too," Tayla said, and blew a kiss at her fellow slave-girl before whisking out the door and into Ganon's personal quarters. The rest of the girls soon followed in order, each one more ridiculously made up than the last. Nasuerah repressed the urge to puke at this show, and instead fingered the necklace her mother had given her. It was her only possession, her only real gift.

She'd been twelve when they'd brought her to the dark palace to work here. And though Ganon had asked many things of them, he had allowed them their personal possessions, because he was not so stupid as to incite rebellion in his slaves. And taking away this would have made her angrier than anyone. It was ornate, made of gold, and incredibly beautiful.

It was said in her family that the necklace brought good dreams to whoever wore it. It was true; Nasuerah had never had a nightmare in all her time of wearing the necklace.

She stood and walked into the kitchen section of the quarters. No time to dwell.

* * *

"Ai, what's your name?" A voice prompted, and Sheik knew it was one of those idiot girls again. He raised his red eyes very slowly, tiredly. He was against the back wall again, slumped in the corner. He didn't want to go anywhere near the bed. 

Beautiful, and if the circumstances were different he'd probably have pushed his charms on her, but considering the circumstances he wasn't in any mood at all to be friendly. "Sheik," he said gruffly.

"Weeeeeeeell. Aren't you handsome." She winked at him, picked up the pillows and began fixing the bed. He took a deep breath.

"Don't you like to talk? My master, he enjoys talking with us, and sometimes a little more. He usually prefers me for the 'more'." She gave another of those slow smiles. Sheik was reminded of a cat on the hunt for rodents, and winced accordingly. "Er, I'm sure he does," he said quietly.

She finished that and swept off to fix the furnishings on the wardrobe, to tuck in things and to dust underneath. Two other girls came up to him and grinned: "Mister Sheikah, if there's anything we can do for you, please let us know," one of them said in a low voice.

Sheik felt trapped. Four girls now stood in front of him, peering at him curiously and each one in a kind of dancer's pose.

"Hey! What did I say? Get out of here, all of you!" An angry voice. Nasuerah's voice. At that moment nothing could have been quite as comforting, except for Link's, of course. Gods, could he think of nothing else? Love was going to kill him. Literally.

"Sir," she said, when they were appropriately gone and disappeared back to the quarters, "I've brought food."

"Thank-you, but I don't want it," Sheik said dismally.

"I…" Oh, dear, this was awkward. "It's… an order… if you don't eat then I'll have to… make you… please," she begged. There was sincerity in her eyes. She wasn't lying about the 'making' part, though he doubted she could so much as lay a hand on him if she wanted to, even in the condition he was in. He sighed and took the tray from her, and she muttered a word of thanks, then perked back up again instantly.

"I noticed you were dreaming badly," she said.

"Was I?" He really didn't want the food.

"I… have a gift, I suppose," she said. "This will help you sleep well." She lifted the amulet from around her head and handed it to him, almost shyly.

He looked at it questioningly.

"It's a dream amulet," she said. "My mother gave it to me. It… brings dreams, and sometimes glimpses of the future and other things, if you're lucky. A seeing-woman in our Gerudo village gave it to her when she was just a girl."

"I can't take this."

"You must! You need it more than I do," she pleaded.

"No, I really can't. Ganon will take it from me." This was true.

"Then…" she curled her hand, hesitated, then took his wrist. He recoiled from the touch, but when he realized she wasn't planning to hurt him, provided his bandaged wrist once more.

It was still broken, and a stab of pain lanced up his arm when she peeled back a section of the cloth he'd bound around it and tucked in the amulet.

"I don't know if it will work properly, but if it does then I am glad," she said.

"You shouldn't talk to me anymore," he said, staring at his wrist. There was no sign that anything was concealed there. "He'll become suspicious."

"Maybe," she said slowly. She doubted Ganon would mind. She was, after all, putting the mind-relaxant into Sheik's food and drink, just like she'd been ordered. See, she was programmed. She was nothing but a tool after all. She sighed and rose up from her knees, then moved to the edge of the room, where the door was, and then was gone. No goodbyes were offered.

Ganon didn't return that night. He fell asleep in the corner of the room, as far from that cursed bed as was physically possible.

* * *

_He was looking down on someone. A woman, completely broken and on her knees, her red hair falling over one shoulder. It was Nabooru, he remembered… wasn't that her name? He'd met her when he was younger, when things hadn't been so confused and Ganon didn't have the triforce yet. _

_She was kneeling in front of two enormously old crones, who cackled with glee as they glanced at each other._

_"Shall we put you against the Hero of Time?" one of the asked._

_"Yes, Ganondorf His Highness would enjoy that!" Another squealed._

_"I don't care anymore," Nabooru said in a dead voice. _

_Now he was looking down upon the front of the desert. He was on top of the entryway to the temple, standing on a giant stone figure, and dressed in his Sheikah clothes. Wow, did that feel good. Familiar… comforting in a way._

_But even moreso when he recognized the figure…_

_Link. Gods, it was Link, and he was looking towards the yawning entrance of the temple confusedly. _

_Sheik took an easy leap from the top of the building to the sands below. His wrist wasn't bound in this dream, it was perfectly functional, and he braced it against the sand before drawing up to his full height. He actually relished Link's look of surprise, then confusion, then excitement. "Sheik!" he exclaimed, dropping the Master Sword and throwing his arms around him. Sheik returned the embrace as if it were a lifeline, fighting back tears that he knew were coming._

_"Where've you been? I waited at the graveyard, but…"_

_"Link, I've been captured. I'm in His castle… I think I'm dreaming."_

_"But how is that possible?"_

_"Don't think about it. Look, I was thinking of something. There's no way you can get into the temple now. It's too sealed up for you to get in. You have to go back to the temple of Time, and become a kid again, like you did in Kakariko. Do you remember?"_

_"I do, but…" His aquamarine eyes burned with unasked questions._

_"Time's like a river. You can take it backwards or forwards, but going back in time is a little harder. Make sure you—Damn. You won't be able to get into the fortress without…"_

_He felt around. Ah, his harp! It was still there beneath the folds of cloth, strung with golden strings and emblazoned with the Royal Seal… Zelda's harp… he took a moment to stare at it, wondering if it was really there. Of course it wasn't. This was a dream. His harp was broken, or thrown away, taken by Ganon and left somewhere. Just like his Sheikah clothing. _

_The song took shorter than usual. Both of them were excited. This was the last temple, the last fortress to conquer and then… and then… _

_"Sheik, what… what's he doing to you? He hasn't hurt you, has he?" _

_Sheik half-turned away from Link and closed his eyes, massaging his temples with one hand thoughtfully. It was a long pause. _

_"No, Link." _

_The look of relief on the Hero's face was unmistakable. _

_"I swear to Nayru when I get my sword against him…" Link began. _

_"You mustn't let anger rule you. We'll see each other soon." _

_Link closed the distance between them, put one hand on the side of Sheik's face. "No, I won't, I know. But if he did anything to you… if he… I don't know what I'd…" he broke halfway through the sentence and replaced words with a kiss. _

_This was heaven. _

_After a solid minute, Sheik had to breathe, because he couldn't think clearly for once. All of a sudden reality swept in and he pushed Link hard, away from him. The Hero, caught off guard, went sprawling into the sand. _

_The desert wind picked up, carrying even more sands with it until they blocked out the sun in a tempesting swirl of a breeze. "Wait, Sheik! I—" Link shouted above the commotion. _

_The sand cleared. Sheik was gone. _


	13. Chapter 13

'Kay, I had to put this up because I'm in a writing mood and I have some time.

listens to Flyleaf and prepares self to write a gory scene

Oh, right, warning. Gore at the end of this chapter. If you've read this far, then congrats, you get the medal of 'being able to read weird fanfics and come out with intact sanity'. So a little blood shouldn't bother you, right? ;)

To NJ: Nasuerah's not an OC, she's just a plot device. You'll see in this chapter.

* * *

He came to his awareness quite suddenly, via a ruthless slap to the face.

And his first thought was, _more bruises? My face will turn black._

And his second thought was that Ganon was back.

Both thoughts were correct. The King loomed over him, and his Sheikah pride refused to let him cower, no matter how much he felt like just letting his body be used again. He shoved himself to his feet and retained eye contact, even though it hurt, it hurt so much, everything in his body hurt. Why was his mind so fuzzy…?

He couldn't remember how to speak.

A hand shot out, followed by another, and both pressed his shoulders to the wall. He didn't allow himself to wince or make a noise, as usual, and took this physical abuse like before: he went numb inside. Dead. His body, he realized, was doing this out of defense for itself, and for his sanity.

Sinister eyes poured into his own, forcing him to look back. He couldn't help himself.

And then Ganon said: "Eyes are the portals to the soul, they say." He felt an icy fear trickle down his back before a probing sensation seized his mind again, gripping it, trying to drag out memories from his head. Well, he could deal with that. He conjured images of monsters and corpses and wars and horrifying things, filling his mind with these images like a safety wall.

Ganon laughed.

The probing grew to where it actually hurt his head and gave him a feeling akin to a strong hangover, only about eight times worse. He gritted his teeth against the invader. "Get… out… of… my head…" he coughed, drawing ragged breaths from the air around him.

The Dark King ignored him, obviously. The pain grew to the point of nausea.

He was going to… collapse… right here…

And then something inside him just snapped.

An outpouring floor of images came forth.

**His first mission, sitting in Impa's house by the fire on one of the rare occasions she came by, looking into the mirror in the castle, picking plants out of Zelda's personal garden just to tick her off, getting a good look at the Ocarina of Time and asking what was so special about it, buying a decent horse in Lon Lon Ranch, building a fire just outside the Kokiri forest, throwing rocks at poes in Kakariko graveyard…**

**…meeting Link, studying his harp, talking to the Kokiri, grinning and laughing and talking and actually holding a conversation with someone after such a long time…**

…**running up the hillside in Kakariko, changing tunics with Link, yelling at him to just get to the graveyard and wait…**

**…fighting off Lizalfos, climbing the tower…**

**…Back after the Fire Temple. Ganon was flicking through his memories like leaves of paper in a book. Flip, flip, flip…**

**…the Ice Cavern, his escape from the castle, waking up in the Fairy Fountain…**

**_Anything but that, anything but that you sick bastard, don't you dare pull that up_**

He fought this part with his hands balled into white fists, his eyes shot with violent gold streaks, every muscle in his body tensed to snapping point.

**_Don't you dare do this that's not for you to look at get the hell out of my mind_**

But it was as if his mental defenses had dissolved. He threw up every ward and spell he knew, every illusion, everything he could do against Ganon. He even cast a suicide spell; even death would be better than this, this betrayal.

But Ganon deflected them all.

**…Link and Sheik in Impa's bed, wrapped in each other's arms, bodies entwined and lips touching and skin pressing and warmth exchanging and air shimmering with delight…**

**…feelings of pleasure like never before…**

This was worse than vile. This was worse than anything. He wanted to die right now. He just wanted to break himself in two, because maybe that would stop him having to see this over and over and over and over…

Ganon found what he'd needed. He pulled up the next parts in rapid succession.

**..Sheik talking to Nasuerah, eating the prepared food…**

**…smiling, exchanging words with her…**

**…the amulet. Now this was another thing. He fought this with a weak mind, less than he fought the memory of Link, because he had no strength left to fight with.**

**And then the Spirit Temple.** The link between them broke and Sheik sagged to the floor, entirely consumed with grief and guilt. He was a broken man, he knew. He was gone mentally, and he knew his sanity was fading. But Link was safe. That was all that mattered now.

Ganon appraised the top of Sheik's head with a cold, unforgiving eye, and snatched up his wrist, wrenching the bandage off of it and the amulet with it. Sheik gave a strained yell then, because he wasn't expecting this, and clutched at his wrist as it was released, bringing it closer to his body and protecting it viciously.

"More fun than I've had in days," Ganon said, and Sheik could hear the scorn in his voice, the uncovered grin that was certainly there.

"Never thought I'd see the old thorn in my side brought quite so low. This is fantastic!" his voice boomed.

Sheik did not reply. If he did, all remaining sanity would be lost.

"Do you still hate me? Are you scared, boy? Would you kill me if you could?"

Sheik didn't speak.

Ganon rounded on him as if he would hit him, but Sheik didn't shrink away or even look at the fist that was about to strike. His eyes rose slowly, slowly, and met Ganon's.

The King suddenly laughed. "Let's greaten the fun." And he swept off to another room.

Sheik thought he had left. But he hadn't. In ten seconds he returned, carrying a screaming girl against him: Nasuerah. She looked at Sheik as she beat against the arm that held her with small fists, her red hair tangled from sleep, her golden eyes begging him to do something. "Sheik, Sheik!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Sheik lunged at Ganon. "No!"

But he couldn't do it. He couldn't manage to wrench her out of his arms. Ganon drew a knife—from where he did not know—and in a sweep Nasuerah's head was severed halfway through the post of her neck, leaving it to swing back and expose a half-chopped spinal column. Vertebrae stuck through the flesh and her golden eyes were left wide-open, tinged at the corners with blood. Blood burbled up in her throat and out of her mouth, dripping down her chin as her limp body fell to the floor, and her hair was matted with more crimson than it contained.

And the last thing she had said was his name. She had begged him for help and he couldn't give it to her.

He lost it. He flew at the Gerudo King in a rage. Hands, feet, teeth, anything. Even his snapped wrist was a weapon. He was beyond pain. The Sheikah had become a creature of habit, an animal, a dead thing walking with the power of movement still intact, completely run by emotion and not by reason.

Ganon laughed this off and threw Sheik away from him. "You… you lunatic, you insane bastard!" Sheik screamed as he started to stand from his knees. But they gave out, unable to carry his weight anymore, and when he slipped and fell it was in a pool of Nasuerah's blood. He crawled to her body.

He cradled her head in his arms, and all he saw was Link's face, over and over.

"I'll kill _him_, too. It's a matter of time." Ganon stood over him once more.

Sheik heaved a sob.

"You think I won't? You've been conspiring against me with Zelda since you were children. But that's all you are… children. This is what I will do to anyone who stands against me."

No reply.

"One last thing: That memory of you and Link is touching, I'll admit. It could almost drive me to tears. Almost." Sarcasm, dry and thorough. "Such tender love. When I kill him, I'll bring you his head, as a present."

Nasuerah's face stared up at him, face contorted into shock. He pressed his fingers into her face, and without knowing what he was doing habit took over. It was another one of those Sheikah tricks: when on a mission, sometimes your fellow Sheikah died, and it was your job to arrange their face before _rigor mortis _made it a mask of their final moments. In a few seconds she looked almost as if she were sleeping, her lips closed, her eyes shut forever.

He cradled her small body in his arms, like a doll, not caring how much blood he had on him or what he was covered in, or how much his wrist hurt.

He saw Link's face again, pasted onto hers, like a ghost image.

"I hate you with everything I have," Sheik whispered.

"And what do you have?"

A pause.

"That's right," Ganon said. "Nothing."


	14. Chapter 14

This fanfic's on the road to its end. Whoo, finally.

Nota Bene: I had to cut out the part of the scene where Zelda reveals she's Sheik. For obvious reasons.

I think I'll end at fifteen chapters. That's a good number.

* * *

There was no night or day inside this room, so he couldn't tell how long he sat there, Nasuerah's head on his lap and his face red and puffy on top of the black bruising and swelling already there.

It wasn't her death that bothered him, though that was a weight on his conscience. It was Ganondorf's last words that had struck true. He had nothing left. He had nothing left, and all his hopes now rode upon Link.

He didn't have hope. He didn't have _emotion, _or so much as anger.

Losing his sanity had been much more relieving than he'd expected.

The slave-girls didn't come to collect their dead friend, and they didn't come to clean the room that day, either. His head remained bowed, and he didn't move, not once, not to eat or to make himself comfortable or to do anything a normal human ought to do. He really didn't give a damn anymore.

Footsteps, and then the sound of each of the locks on the heavy door clicking open in rapid succession. Ganon swept into the room, obviously very proud of himself over what he'd done. Come back to gloat, had he?

"You still haven't moved? A pity, I thought you'd hold out longer before breaking."

When Sheik did not speak or so much as lift his head, Ganon did the unthinkable and went down on one knee across from Sheik, on the other side of the body. "Impa's been awoken as a sage, I hear. She's not coming for you. None of them are: I've come to tell you that your _love _is dead." He put an ugly twist on the word, a tone both mocking and cruel.

At this, however, Sheik did look up. Though there was nothing left in his eyes.

"The Spirit Sage herself killed him off, with a little help from my minions. I know I promised you his head, but there wasn't enough of it left to bring."

Nabooru? She did that? Poor woman. She'd been under a spell for seven years. Maybe she had found some kind of sick justification in it, after a while. Maybe she had turned against Link and what Ganon was saying was true?

Link was… dead?

All of a sudden the words hit him. He'd thought he had no emotion left, but apparently he did.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!" He screamed, filling the chamber with anger and despair. "DO YOU WANT TO KILL ME? GO AHEAD! I …DON'T …CARE …ANYMORE! I'D RATHER DIE!" Yes, to die, that would be best. Just like this slave girl. Just like Link.

If Sheik had had any surprise left, he might have used it at Ganon's next retort.

The Dark King leaned in close.

"Good. Then I'll kill you both off at once."

The silence trickled on. Ganon would never let him go, Sheik realized. And in that cold realization there was a finality to it. _He'll never let me go. _

This sentence floated around his mind as Ganon shoved forward from his down-on-one-knee position and grabbed the back of his shirt unceremoniously, heaving him to his feet. Sheik didn't notice any kind of signal, but apparently one had been given, because momentarily a group of guards (about seven or so; he wasn't in the state of mind to count) surrounded the King and Sheikah. Two of them took his arms, and he sagged in their grip, unable to keep bodily strength to hold himself up any longer. Nasuerah's body was left behind, the post of her neck beginning to fester and smell as it was exposed to air again after not being moved for nearly an entire day.

Sheik didn't care.

Ganon moved forward, his cloak rustling, and lifted Sheik's face to the light with one hand, giving no sign of emotion at the bruises and various cuts. "Consider this a test, Sheik," he said, and pressed his thumb into the small hollow just beneath Sheik's cheekbone. "You're mine now."

And he didn't protest it. Up until this point, he'd always denied it. But now?

Well, it was true, wasn't it? Link was dead, and he couldn't even manage tears.

Ganon had taken even _that_ from him.

There was a slight humming noise in the air. Sheik turned his head with some effort, and caught sight of Ganon, who had moved directly behind him, and was now holding a kind of golden rope that twisted and shimmered as the dim light caught it. This he wound around both wrists, and it glowed a little brighter. Then he approached Sheik and wrapped it around his neck, like a noose, only much prettier and much more grand.

It sank into Sheik's skin as if it were light itself.

And quite suddenly all the shininess and all the splendour disappeared, and there was no trace of it where it had been around his neck. One of the guards stared, and another gave a low whistle. "Strong magic, m'lord," they offered.

"Deliver him to her cell," Ganon replied coldly. "This room is too easily found. I have business to attend." And then to Sheik: "If you leave the castle with this spell on, your head will be severed from your body. _This _is my claim on you. Consider it a protection until I deal with other matters." And with that he left.

He seemed distracted, as if he were in some kind of hurry. Something was definitely bothering him, but Sheik was finding that he had less and less on his mind. The guards hauled him off and out of the room, then back down a flight of steps and then two more, and off into a side chamber at last. Now they were in the prisons; At one side of the prison wall was a metal door, entirely sealed, and it was up to this that he was marched.

One of the guards put out his hand and pressed on the edge of the door, then muttered a very long and very complex incantation. The door gave a small lurch and then swung partway on its hinges, allowing the small group to enter, with Sheik being completely dragged in the center. What was this, some new kind of torture? It didn't matter, he decided. Whatever they had in store for him, he hoped it would kill him.

* * *

"For Nayru's love! You heartless bastards, what have you done…?" A woman's voice, sobbing and carrying on in a high-pitched voice, very melodious. Almost like his mother. He could stand to listen to that voice, he decided.

"My… my gods, Sheik…" the men dropped him and he crumpled into a heap on the floor. He felt hands on him, pulling him, soothing over his body, setting his head up properly in someone's lap. Very white and very smooth, silky hands were pressing into his shoulder, his hair, ruffling through it anxiously. Some form of wetness fell onto his cheek, and he realized there was a face over him, and that this face was crying.

"Sheik, you… don't you remember me?"

It was Zelda.

"What did they do to you? Sheik, please, answer me!"

"Princess…?"

"Yes, yes, it's me!" she exclaimed, and burst into tears again. Sheik stretched a hand out slowly and touched her on the cheek. But that was all he could manage at the moment.

"Sheik, can't you talk? What's he been _doing _to you? Oh, my poor, poor Royal Spy…" she petted him some more like an older sister might, and he tolerated this, because he hadn't seen Zelda in years and where the hell had she been? Zelda was consumed with another wave of sobs.

"Crying… over… me?"

"Well. I thought you were _dead,_" she said, and hiccupped. She was wearing a formal dress, Sheik realized, and the silk of the skirt felt very nice. Nicer than what he was wearing, which was filthy, but he didn't care.

"Your face is… agh, your face is all torn and… your wrist!" she caught sight of Sheik's wrist, swollen hideously and discolored. "You're hurt!"

"…You… (he coughed) …where…? Where were you?" Some realization pierced the fog in his brain like an arrow.

"Impa took me to the forest, a little past the Kokiri settlement. She had me wait there for a while, their magic hid me more than anything else, really. And then she kind of sealed me in this glass chamber, and when I awoke… Oh, Sheik, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm… I'm so sorry! I should have come sooner! It's all right now, Link will be along to save us in a minute, though." She smiled weakly through her tears.

"He's…" Sheik closed his eyes. "He's not… alive."

"Yes, he is; I was speaking to him not twenty minutes ago. Sheik, we have to help him! He's going to fight Ganon…Link was the one who told me you were here! Link's angry, Sheik, you have no idea. I think he's going to win."

What she said after the first sentence was lost to him. "He's… what?"

"Link-- he's outside right now! I think he and the other sages are trying to figure out a way in. Ganon's just left us here as bait, I'll bet you. Come on, Sheik, we'd better try and find a way to escape. We can't just sit here and wait to be rescued!"

Sheik looked past her face, feeling a half-soaring and half-sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Thank the Gods, Link was still alive. If there was nothing else in this world there was still that.

But on the other hand… "Zelda, I can't," he said. His situation seemed so bleak at the moment that all he could do was struggle to a sitting position and put a hand to his forehead. "I think He put some kind of device on me. If I leave…" he let the rest hang ominously.

"That cold, cold bastard," Zelda said acidly."How could he put a spell on you like that?"

This was so funny, considering everything _else _that Ganon had done to him, that Sheik burst into hysterical laughter.

Zelda looked at him as if he were crazy. Which he very well might have been. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said, and the bubble of hysteria burst, leaving him feeling colder and emptier than before. "Listen. If I add my power to yours, you can break the lock on the door."

"But I can't leave you here!" she said, aghast.

"Princess, don't pull heroics with me. You don't have enough power to do this on your own."

At this the corners of her mouth turned up, exposing perfect white teeth. "That's where you're wrong. Impa showed me something when I was sealed in that place. I'm the last one of the Royal Line, and that makes me…" she clenched her hands excitedly (leave it to Zelda to be excited when trapped in Ganon's dungeon), "The Sage of Light!"

Sheik gave her a slow look. His mind still wasn't comprehending things fast enough.

"Which means that I can get us out of here, no problems, and—" she looked at Sheik, who touched his neck right above the collarbone, where the golden chain had sunk in. "I… oh, damn." She frowned.

"You still aren't strong enough," he said dismally. "That's a seventeen-lock door. _He _told me."

"Well, he knew I was the Light Sage, but also.." she rolled up her sleeve and exposed her hand. And there, something he hadn't noticed before: a gently glowing triforce. How odd, what was it? "I'm the weilder of the Triforce of Wisdom! I don't know how, but it's nifty, no?"

Well, she sure seemed confident. As if she really had seen Link. But if it was true that he was alive, then he hated Ganon more than ever before for lying to him. Why? Why? Why, his conscience cried?

"Watch this," she said, and winked. She went over to the door and knelt down next to it, then stared at the knob very intently. A short moment later the door gave a jerk, an annoyed little squeak, and sprang open. "See? It's easy for me now. I've got so much power, Sheik, you have no idea! Now come on, let's get out of here!"

And suddenly she was separated from him. Glass came up and around them both in enormous sharded platelets. Zelda clenched her hands: "Oh, _not again!" _she said, giving a little terrified yelp as she was encased in a glass diamond. The entire effect was very sudden and very off-putting.

Sheik bounded forward and threw himself on it, but where a crack formed it was quickly mended. Zelda was casting spells furiously inside, but to no avail, and the thing rose up into the air and disappeared. The last glance Sheik got was of Zelda's face, lips open to say something, before she was gone.

He staggered to a wall, bracing his arm against it and looking around. Where? How? Was this some kind of mental torture, or was it the real thing? Suddenly the castle shook violently. Rubble fell from the ceiling (really, it was a very old castle) and Sheik crouched down low, looking up the stairs nearby with a suddenly renewed light.

He felt like his old self again. Almost.

Or maybe it was just adrenaline.

From the jail cells behind him, he heard people crowding to the bars of their cells, giving triumphant wails and cries as they hugged each other and rang the bars with whatever they could find. Most noticeable was the cheer that was quickly being taken up.

"Hail! Ho! The Hero of Time!"


	15. Chapter 15

Heeeeeh, I split this in half because I figured it was too long for one chapter.

* * *

He had to do this. This was death or life, he knew, and he wanted to live.

_He wanted to live. _That much he knew. Did he really want to live, or was it just an instinct thrown in for good measure, like the instinct that made him eat or made him fight when he was attacked? He didn't know, and he didn't want to know.

He looked behind him at the prisoners bewilderedly, and then where Zelda had disappeared into the ceiling in that diamond casing. Ye gods, where had she gone?

He pivoted on his heel and walked into the middle of the gates. Already some people at the end of the hallway had uprisen and grabbed a pair of keys left behind. But from where? With a startled look, Sheik realized that all of the guards were gone. The jail was completely deserted but for the prisoners inside the cells. This was why he and Zelda had been able to escape so easily, he suspected.

There was another shake of the walls, and Sheik held together this time, bracing his feet against the stone. There was an onslaught of prisoners around him, rushing, escaping, fleeing in every way.

And where had Zelda gone?

He turned to one side and ran down the passageway which looked most familiar. If he was right, then this would lead to the old Royal Chamber, which was exactly where he wanted to go. Up a flight of stairs, around a curve, up another—and now into a long hall, and he was almost at the door now.

Suddenly a sharp pain wracked his body and his bones turned to liquid again, forcing him to his knees, clenching his head in agony.

Somebody was drawing on his power. And not just anybody; it was Ganon, he knew. It just _felt _like Ganon. Whatever this chain inside him was, it was also a power-drawer, and it was soaking all his strength up like a sponge. He forced himself to stop shaking when the strongest wave of it had passed, and it began to ebb slowly. Whatever kind of spell Ganon was using, he was doing it in bursts.

He came to the end of the hallway and found what he was looking for: a window. Outside it was quite hot, due to the fumes from the magma and lava below, but as he thrust his head and part of his shoulders through his eyes caught something spectacular: an enormous rainbow bridge, stretching from the castle entrance to the cliff on the opposite side.

Link was in the castle.

An onslaught of shudders and pains hit him again and his knuckles turned white as he grasped the windowsill with both hands. _Damnit, I will not go down. Not now. _

He pressed himself off the sill and then passed up another flight. Ganon was using his power up like crazy, and in a minute or so he'd have nothing left at all.

He half walked, half ran to the next staircase, and when he'd reached the top of this, found his way cleared. Where Ganon's door had been there was only a blown-open crevice about five feet in diameter, and some jagged edges where the rest had been. The sages were here too, then, because Link couldn't have done this by himself.

He gripped a jutting piece of diamond-laced rock as another spasm hit, and he rode out the pain without so much as a grimace, though his face did turn quite pale.

"Time to get revenge," he muttered, and made his way to the center of the room.

And stopped. There was a pillar in the way. Now what was he supposed to do? All his Sheikah instincts kicked in and urged him to get to the side, to get a better view of whatever was at the top. He could hear someone yelling, as if they were about to strike, and a low current of maniacal laughter on top of that. There were various flashes and noises drifting down from the top of the pillar.

All of a sudden it was as if a great hand had been lifted from his chest. He gasped with effort as energy filled and consumed his body, and he was enlightened. _Yes, he's won! Ganon is dead, he must be! _Sheik's mind screamed at him. But his reason said otherwise.

Because quite clearly, the sky was falling.

Literally. Stone caved in upon itself and the walls that Ganon had boasted about being so very sturdy were falling like a child's play-bricks. Sheik sprinted from the room just as a block of stone covered the entryway, and two more sprang out on either side from a lower level. He leapt to another surface, scrabbled on top of it, surveyed his surroundings. And here was an entrance that was just barely large enough for him to crawl through, where he could see another entryway, another archway beyond that…

…and four Lizalfos.

Two of them wailed something at him in Lizalfian and leapt at him, teeth and claws bared. But he was invigorated, and pushed on by the thought of seeing Link again, and they were no match for a battle-hungry Sheikah. He dodged to the side of the first attack, snatching one of their weapons as he passed, and clobbered one on the back of its ugly head. The other he took head-on and snapped out at its arm before landing a kick in the middle of its torso. The slight creature stumbled back a few paces, giving him enough of a window to smack it straight across the head.

The other two seemed to have disappeared. But there was suddenly a clamoring cry, and he looked to the side, through the archway. His heart stopped.

Link was there, the Master Sword little more than a blur as he wielded it expertly. And there was Zelda, trapped behind a barrier of some kind of witchfire. Link ran one through the heart and the other he simply beheaded. It was magnificent. Both lizalfos fell to the ground, dead, and he leaned on the sword slightly, not even breathing hard.

"Zelda, you all-right?" he called, turning. The barrier dispersed and she bustled over, a worried look on her face. "I don't know where he is! I can't sense his presence at all… just Ganon, Ganon, Ganon! I don't think he's dead, Link, but…"

"He's in here somewhere," Link said, looking around with slightly narrowed eyes. He looked desperate. Sheik chose now to make his appearance from between two fallen pillars. He didn't say anything, but simply moved into the clearing, feeling very, very naked without his proper Sheikah garb. Not even a cowl. He was filthy from head to toe, covered in blood and muck and Lizalfos scales. His hair was disheveled, his eyes were red and his face was probably one enormous bruise.

Link dropped everything and with a cry, threw his arms around Sheik.

Zelda crossed her arms. "Hey, boys? The castle's still falling."

Link didn't budge. "Thank the Gods," he whispered to Sheik's shoulder.

A boulder fell from the ceiling and sprang into a thousand shards just to Sheik's left, jarring them from their reverie. "Time for that later!" Zelda screamed over the din as the castle continued to shake. "Let's go!"

The way down was a blur. Sheik didn't even remember coming out into the fog of night, just behind Link, who had the Master Sword in hand. Zelda had both hands raised and both were glowing with an ethereal light.

Just as they made it out, the front archway sagged and broke down. All around them, prisoners were running across the rainbow bridge, screaming and whooping with elated joy. Nobody stayed anywhere near the castle longer than they had to. Suddenly Sheik stopped and keeled over, gasping for breath. It felt as if there were two hands encircling his neck with an iron grip….

_Don't let me die here, damnit! I want to **live!**_

"What? What's happening to him?" This was Zelda, in her high-pitched voice.

"I don't know. Sheik, are you…?" Link's hand gripped his shoulder as he knelt on the dusty ground. Zelda clasped her hands: "Oh, oh! Ganon's put some kind of spell on him! I know he has!" she said anxiously. Sheik tried to get his breath, to no avail. It was being squeezed from his body slowly, and his breathing was becoming shorter and shorter.

Link lifted him up in his arms as if he weighed nothing. He'd gotten strong, hadn't he? Well, he was wearing the golden gauntlets too. As Link walked back towards the remains of Ganondorf's castle, into the center of where the main courtyard had been, Sheik's lungs and trachea untightened and he could breathe again in half-gasps. If only he wasn't so weak, if only, if only…

"I can't go past the castle grounds while he's alive," Sheik said, one word at a time. "And he draws his power from me. I felt it."

"So that's how he was shooting those energy balls at me," Link said, and his brows knitted angrily. He looked positively murderous now. It was a frightening thing. "He was stealing from _you._"

Sheik nodded and focused on staying conscious. Impa had taught him various breathing exercises for low-oxygen situations, but this was draining from his soul as well as his body. But Sheik could feel something else there, like an invisible rope linking his heart with something else, something malevolent and very, very close…

"He's still alive," Sheik gasped.

"What?" Link looked around. The place was deserted but for those three.

All of a sudden there was a massive explosion, and a hideous screeching of rock meeting rock—and something else. Zelda shrieked and leapt to the side as a haze descended, and through it, an enormous figure was barely visible.

It wasn't human. What the hell was this thing?

Sheik bent down into a battle position, but a claw swept out and threw him aside. He landed against a nearby concrete pillar and heard a sickening thud as his arm broke his fall, and then a crack. Broken. Useless. He heard more screaming (presumably Zelda; she had become a teenage girl now) and a sudden clang of metal as Link's sword was thrown away from him. The blade fell and stuck into a patch of dirt, where Zelda was crouched not five feet from him, and another witchfire barrier rose around them both.

When he roused himself from the pain and forced it to the back of his mind, he took note of the creature Link was fighting. It was Ganon, surely enough, but he had become something entirely different. A bull? Dog? Dinosaur? It was hideous. This was Ganon's true form. This was what he had become.

But he wasn't dead. No, Ganon was very much alive.

"Hey, over here!" Link shouted at it. The thing had only half of the Dark King's intelligence, it seemed, because it actually turned and bared its horrible fangs at Link. Fairy-bow raised, Link unleashed a few blindingly lit arrows at it, and it screamed in pain.

Suddenly Sheik was being drained of energy.

"He's doing it again," he said to Zelda, teeth gritted.

"What? Oh, oh dear, hold on, Sheik!" Zelda said, and looked at Link anxiously. Link, meanwhile, was in the process of duck-rolling between the thing's leg and tail, where he proceeded to shoot it in the face again. This happened over and over, this dance, and Sheik watched, entranced by both Link's form and the anger that was coming off him in waves.

"He's angry… for you, Sheik," Zelda said, clasping her hands together. "You give him strength. Hold out a little longer."

Sheik gave a barely perceptible nod and then took a deep breath, clenching his fists and closing his eyes. Breaking a power-link was messy, and possibly fatal, but he had to try it, or else…

He suddenly felt himself up against an iron wall in his mind. Another consciousness was pressing onto him, surrounding him like water…

_Get out. You don't belong here anymore, Ganon._

_**I'll take what I want from you. **_

_No!_

_**You'll help me kill him, whether you like it or not.**_

_NO!_

Sheik steeled himself and wrenched his mind out of Ganon's as far as he could. Pain overwhelmed him, almost, and he felt like the insides of him were being flipped inside out and exposed to the wind and pelting rain, but he continued. There was a note of mild surprise from the other consciousness, and then it twitched and doubled its hold on him. He fought on, his face white and pallid, his teeth gritted nearly to shattering.

"Link, quick! The Master Sword!" Zelda shouted, and Link sprinted over, snatched up the blade. The witchfire barrier was gone for the moment.

Zelda's hands twined and a current of light came from her outstretched palms, straight to Link, up his arms, and to his sword. His sword was Redemtion; it was Victory, and Purity, and Truth, and every virtue in the book. Sheik wondered if he was going delirious. There was another blinding flash and Ganon's head was split in two by this awesome power, this virtue.

Link was truly a sight to behold, covered in blood, his cap slipping over his brows and his aquamarine eyes wide and nearly brimming with tears. He left Ganon's body where it lay in two pieces and sprinted over to Sheik, crouched next to him.

Sheik suddenly felt power rush into him like he'd felt before. This time, however, it was twofold, because Ganon was really dead.

"He's dead," Sheik said in disbelief, lifting his head to meet Link's eyes, which were not three inches away from him.

"Yes," Link said. He was crying. Not just one tear, but lots, and they were making his face all wet as they mingled with the rain. He extended his hand and Sheik took it with the arm that wasn't broken (funny, he felt much too warm inside to consider that his arm was shattered) and they looked at each other, standing.

No words were needed. Link wrapped one arm around his shoulders and another around his waist, and held him closer than he thought was possible. Zelda looked away, as if maybe she was embarrassed to be staring at them, and turned towards the rainbow bridge, walking towards it.

"What… how could you have let yourself get captured for _me, _you idiot?" Link said at last, and pressed a kiss to Sheik's neck. Sheik sighed. No matter what, he didn't want Link to know what had gone on. He didn't think that it mattered, and that was a part of his soul that he couldn't share right now. Maybe someday, but not right now.

Someday.

"I didn't want Him to hurt you," Sheik said in a very quiet voice.

And this was true. Sheik would have given anything to take Link's place in what he'd gone through during his stay in that castle. Anything in the world.

"I… I love you, Link. More than you know," Sheik added. "And I didn't want you to have to do that."

"You… are so… so… " Link couldn't find the words. Sheik gave a grin, a flicker of humor coloring his face, and kissed Link. Right there in the rain, in front of all the sages and townspeople and Zelda herself. Ruto was furious, Rauru rolled his eyes, Nabooru smiled tiredly, and Impa? Well, Impa just shook her head.

Sheik grinned against Link's mouth. _How's this for Sheikah stealth?_

_

* * *

_

_**Two Weeks Later**_

_

* * *

_

"He has some incredibly bad wounds, and not all of them external," the market square doctor pronounced. Zelda and Link were in the anteroom of his home-practice. There were lots of home-practices springing up, and just within two weeks' time, Hyrule Market had become a place of joy and color once again. Most of the townspeople had made it out of Ganon's castle, no sweat, though there'd been deaths as well. But Hyrule was changing, rebounding, bouncing back and returning to what it had once been, though it was now tainted with the shadow of Ganon's memory.

Sheik hadn't wanted to see a doctor, and had protested loudly the entire way, saying that his arm was "just fine" and that he could treat it himself. Link and Zelda had had to force him to go.

"So what do we do?" Link asked.

"With trauma like his? Time," the doctor said. "Time heals all wounds, they say."

Link and Zelda shared a look.

"And how much do I owe you, then?" Link asked unsurely.

The doctor laughed. "Hero, it's a pleasure to treat the Acolyte. I'd do it for free anytime, and you couldn't _force _me to take payment. You'd best take a quick walk, though; I set his arm with a healing spell and slipped him a sleeping potion to keep him from messing with it. Sheikah have a very… _different _idea of medicine," he said, and smiled. "He'll rouse in about an hour or so, I don't doubt."

Zelda and Link rose at the same time and trudged outside dutifully, whereas Zelda dragged Link into an alleyway just behind the shop.

"Link. He might be changed forever," Zelda said, pale.

"He's been having nightmares," Link agreed sadly. "He talks in his sleep, too, sometimes. God, when I think about it…" he grimaced. "I wish I could kill Ganon over and over again, just to repay what he did."

"What he did to Sheik isn't important now," Zelda said. "I have a plan."

"What?" Link's eyes widened. He was interested.

"The realm we sealed Ganon in is timeless, thanks to the Master Sword. So I've been doing a little research, and I think that… I think I could turn us back in time, all of us, all of Hyrule. We could go back to being kids again, Link! And we wouldn't have to worry about this happening, none of it! Sheik would be back to normal, and we could just live our lives the way we were supposed to."

"That's insane, Zelda!" he exclaimed.

She got a knowing look in her eye. "No, it's not, when you think about it. It'll be easy, Link, for me! We both have parts of the triforce inside us, anyhow. You know that. And if we do this, then we'll make sure Ganon will never come to Hyrule again... not for thousands of years, at least. I can erase everything that happened."

Link stood still. "… but our memories?"

She frowned. "Well, they'd be gone. Mine would stay intact, because I'd be the one casting the spell. But everyone else in Hyrule…"

Link closed his eyes, seeming to consider. "Would… would it help him, do you think? He hates being like this, I know. He hates feeling like he has a weakness. Sheik isn't the vulnerable type."

"We'll find each other," she said. "I'll make sure of it."

Link pressed his mouth into a very firm line. He looked back to the door of the doctor's office, and then back to Zelda.

"Come on, Link, trust me," she whispered, pressing a hand into his shoulder.

"Do it," he said finally, his voice carrying a note of sadness. "For him."


	16. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

* * *

Mornings in the Royal Castle were always the best part. All the guards were sleepy and none of them were holding onto their possessions very well; it was easy for Sheik to slip by and snatch things out of their pockets.

Even if he was only thirteen years old.

He grinned devilishly as he flipped down from the ceiling, landing with a cat's grace just behind a sleeping Guard Captain. He reached two fingers around his neck and filched the ruby amulet from around his shoulders, bearing the Royal Crest, and then shoved it into his pockets.

Zelda would be ticked at him, but… well, it was too fun to resist.

Suddenly a door blew open and Impa stormed into the room, awakening the Guard Captain with a jolt. His hands flew to his neck and he snarled out: "Hey, yeh little maggot o' a Sheikah! Yeh stole my amulet!"

But Sheik had retreated into the shadows again.

Unfortunately, the person who'd just entered was more than capable of finding him. The Guard Captain fumbled for a second and then stood at attention. "Oh, oh! Ah.. er.. mornin' there, miss Impa! M'apologies, but I'd reckon I jess got stolen from."

"And indeed you did. Sheik, the Princess wants to see you."

Sheik blinked, coming out of the shadows suddenly, hands thrust nonchalantly into the pockets of his Sheikah clothing. The cloth wrapped around his face couldn't hide his smile, though: "What, am I in trouble again?"

"No. And give back this man his necklace, will you?"

Sheik snorted. "No way. I earned it."

"You'll never be a full-blooded Sheikah if you keep that up, you little bastard," she retorted with her face aflame. Sheik gave her a shrug and bounded over the nearest balustrade and down to the flight of steps below, leaping easily without any remorse at all. "So maybe I don't _want _to!" he called back up.

* * *

He dropped from a small balcony to Zelda's garden below. She was standing in the midst of it, jaw open, hands clutched to her neck, staring at something in the doorway.

"Hey, Princess. You called for me?"

There was a figure in the doorway, a small boy in green garb, his shortsword slung casually over his back and a wooden shield strapped onto one shoulder. His ears were long and pointed and his blonde hair was almost entirely concealed beneath a long green cap.

"I—oh, did I?" she suddenly smiled knowingly, though at what, Sheik didn't know. She came over and took Sheik's hand, leading him over to the boy in the doorway. He couldn't have been more than half a year younger than Sheik, he noticed.

"You're Link, aren't you?" she asked the Kokiri, who nodded: "How'd you know?"

"Oh, I… just do," she said with a mild shrug. "This is my Royal Spy, and he's a Sheikah, too. His name's Sheik."

Link chuckled. "Good name. I came to make diplomacy between the Kokiri and the Hylians, miss Princess Zelda… the Deku Tree sent me?"

"Yes, yes. Talk to Sheik; he's in charge of all that." She waved one hand. "I hate that sort of thing. Politics and whatnot. You're going to live here for a while, though, so I'll have your things assorted upstairs, Link."

Link nodded, then turned to Sheik. "What do you do here for fun?"

"Steal stuff, mostly." Sheik grinned, revealing white, even teeth. At age thirteen he was rather short, but Impa had assured him he'd shoot up, and he was developed enough to have the beginnings of a lankish, slightly muscular form.

Link blinked. "Steal? But that's… wrong!"

"Nah, half the time they don't even realize it's missing," Sheik replied. "I'll teach you if you want."

"You'd do that?" Link's face lit up. He looked like an eager little kid, not the twelve-and-a-half he was.

"Sure. Meet me in my room tonight and I'll show you. It's upstairs on the third level, fourth room down." He folded his arms. "You look familiar to me."

"Yeah, I was noticing the same thing," Link said, and furrowed his brows confusedly. "Maybe I've seen you somewhere before?"

"No, I doubt it. But I'll be seeing a lot more of you, won't I?"

"Guess so."

They stood there awkwardly.

"Well, there's a bonfire tomorrow at Lon Lon Ranch, anyways," Sheik said. "You should come. It'll be fun." He flashed another one of those charming smiles. Even at thirteen most of the palace maids were completely obsessed with him. And Link had to admit to himself that he could see why.

"I'll be there."

Somewhere in the back of his mind Sheik felt a strange connection, an emotion so strong that he couldn't even give it a name. He didn't know this emotion. And far off, he thought he heard a song playing; he thought he heard, maybe, the notes of the Song of Time that Zelda liked to play so much.

But perhaps it was only an echo.

_End_


End file.
